Cavs: Evan Mobley was impressive in debut in L at Grizzlies

The Cleveland Cavaliers just tipped off their 2021-22 season on Wednesday, facing Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies.

One thing many have been looking forward to seeing heading into the season has been how #3 overall pick Evan Mobley will be able to play in his time out there, and how he can coexist alongside Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen and others.

Mobley looks to be Cleveland’s starting 4, by and large, and while we’ll have to see how him and Allen shake out, the two look to be quite a formidable defensive pairing.

That should help a number of other Cavs players, and just in general, Mobley should still get his share of playing time with offseason sign-and-trade acquisition Lauri Markkanen, anyway. We saw those guys get time together in preseason, and Markkanen actually started at the 3, which was a bit of a surprise. Our Zane Harris was a big fan of that, for what it’s worth.

In any case, with the season now underway, it’ll be again be something all Cavs fans will be watching, in relation to how Mobley does and hopefully comes along gradually with this Cleveland team.

Cavs: With that in mind, though it was only one game, Mobley was impressive in his rookie debut.

The Cavs as a team had their struggles defensively, as Morant, who had 37 points on 17-of-29 shooting, to go with six rebounds and six assists, got whatever he wanted it seemed. And while Morant and some other Grizzlies did make some tough shots inside, they hit spray-outs, and had too many key buckets to hault Cavs runs.

That said, there were positives from the Cavaliers’ end, such as Darius Garland having a big fourth quarter, and him and Ricky Rubio each having 12 and 10 assists, respectively. The club had 38 assists, which was the most they’ve had in a game since March of 2016, per Cavs Notes. Plus, Jarrett Allen was outstanding, to a large degree, as he had 25 points and three steals and blocks apiece.

He was 11-of-11 from the field, and that was the first time that’s happened in a season opener when a player hit 10 shots at minimum since 1954, according to ESPN/via the Associated Press. And as our Josh Cornelissen pointed out, he’s hit all of his shots nine times in his career thus far, with a qualifier of five-plus shots.

Anyway, circling back to Mobley, though it was just one game and the Cavs lost 132-121, I thought he was impressive. He had 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, going 1-of-2 from three, and had nine rebounds and six assists. That debut put him in rarified air, per the Elias Sports Bureau and as h/t Cavs Notes.

Defensively, there were occasions when his closeouts were a bit slow to Jaren Jackson Jr. from the perimeter, but he was one of the few Cavs who appeared to be in the right spots generally as a rotator, and defended Jackson admirably on the interior. Mobley had a block and a steal apiece, and looked to be more comfortable overall as the game progressed, even while Cleveland as a team had its highs and lows.

Something that particularly stood out from Mobley was that, aside from a few elbow J’s, was his off-ball activity leading to jams inside, and his passing vision. Mobley will learn to at times simply space the floor more to be a kickout option, as a brief side note, however, he availed himself as a diagonal/interior cutter a few times for Cleveland’s guards, which was great to see still, demonstrating his feel in that realm.

And to reiterate, for a rookie big, his passing ability and recognition for seeing meaningful lead passes in transition, extra passes inside and/or at times to shooters was shown in this Memphis game, as it was in preseason some.

Going forward, while it was only one game, having a 4/5 presence that can be very effective for creation for others will be a boost for Cleveland’s offense, and ease burden on guys such as Garland, Collin Sexton and Rubio. Mobley should help the Cavs’ transition output as well.

There were some rookie moments still from Mobley, and his movement didn’t Cedi Osman a couple of times, who was targeting him, and Mobley may have overhelped here and there, which was understandable for a young big. That could’ve played into him being a team-low minus-18; one shouldn’t read a ton into a players’ plus-minus in their rookie debut, in fairness.

But all things considered, his defensive rebounding was good, too, and far better than Allen’s I thought, which was the one blemish on the Fro’s outing.

Moreover, it was an impressive debut from Mobley, and the future looks bright for him with the Cavaliers.