Cavs: Evan Mobley’s off to solid start as a finisher so far

There’s going to moments throughout games where Evan Mobley is going to show his youth; that’s what one expects from a 20-year-old rookie big. Mobley has led the Cleveland Cavaliers in minutes thus far, and one has to anticipate that there will be growing pains, particularly on the offensive end from him.

At times, there have been inopportune turnovers from him as a young big, and as one would attest, him being thin sometimes leads to opponents walling up on him and forcing tough shots over the top.

The mid-range looks, while the volume hasn’t been high, have been spotty to begin his rookie year, also, but the touch and flashes from him in the mid-post and at the elbow are so intriguing.

Now, Mobley’s off to quite a promising start for the Cavaliers, all things considered, and his passing and cutting instincts have made a difference for the team. Him and Jarrett Allen are beginning to play off of each other more and starting to mesh too, which has been great to see in the last batch of games.

Thus far, overall, he’s done a really nice job for the Cavaliers, and has not forced things much, en route to 14.9 points per contest, and he’s been a crucial reason why Cleveland has often played three-big lineups. That’s with the defensive end in mind, too, where he’s been invaluable, of course.

On offense, however, one aspect of his play shouldn’t be overlooked, either: his finishing.

Mobley’s off to a solid start as a finisher for the Cavs.

Mobley is not going to force things to initiate for himself at this point, and his passing and ball movement sense has given the Cavs a lift, along with that. The assists splits aren’t gaudy, with 2.5 per game through 11 outings, but, one can easily see that he’s a gifted passing big that will only get better in that area as he gains more experience.

Circling back, though, even with the majority of his shots coming from cuts or lobs, his movement feel, rolling timing and ability to avail himself properly, for such a young player, has led to plenty of success. That was on display in Cleveland’s gritty win at the Toronto Raptors on Friday, for example, and in Mobley’s 26-point game in an impressive W at the New York Knicks on Sunday, when he had nine rebounds and five assists to go with that.

Again, most of these have come off of assists; that said, Mobley converting on 79.7 percent of his restricted area shot attempts early on (per NBA.com’s shooting data) is a good sign for what’s to come for him. That’s mostly been as a cutter, roller and play finisher and it’s showing he can time up his movement very well throughout games to give Cleveland’s guards a great target near the basket, leading to quality possessions.

Granted, Mobley hasn’t had nearly as much in the floater game yet, as he’s shot only 29.4 percent on paint attempts not in the restricted area, but with more experience and with his threat as a passer, that will around. For context, he placed in the 92nd percentile last season at USC on floater attempts, per Synergy Sports.

We’ve seen flashes of that touch, along with success from when he’s gotten occasional cross-matching in the mid-post game, and that’s a positive, as perhaps Cleveland will draw things up to do so situationally more.

Some fadeaways and pull-ups as a counter to floaters in those instances could open it up more for him to get to the rim more, also, and I’d look for those as Mobley continues to establish himself.

In any case, while he does need to show he can play through contact from bigs more on a game-to-game basis on-ball, Mobley has shown some ability to do that still, and him getting some big putbacks has given the Cavs energy. He’s had 3.2 free throw attempts per game so far, in fairness, and has hit 80.0 percent of them, both of which have been fine.

But generally, when factoring in his cutting timing, off-ball IQ and with how he’s helped the Cavaliers some as an interior target in the transition game from feel and hustling down the floor, his finishing has been very impactful so far for Cleveland.

I know the shot needs to further develop in time, and he’ll need to get stronger; both of those things will come, though, and the finishing from him early on has been encouraging. And some coming into the season were concerned about that it seemed, so hopefully this trend continues, while he gradually shows more in other areas.