For the first time this season, a rookie has graced the top of the Kia Rookie Ladder for more than one week! Toronto Raptors’ first-round pick Scottie Barnes leapfrogged Cleveland Cavaliers forward/big Evan Mobley to get to the top spot for the second time. It’s likely that Mobley would’ve stayed atop the ladder had he not gotten injured earlier this week.
On Monday night, the Cavs youngster got tangled up on the court and suffered a sprained elbow. He could miss up to a month, approximately. Hopefully his absence is short-lived, considering to win the Rookie of the Year Award he feasibly can’t miss more than 15-20 games.
With that being said, congratulations are in order to Scottie Barnes. Aside from that, first overall pick Cade Cunningham finally got on the court for the Detroit Pistons after missing some time to begin the season. He entered the top five this week, slotting in at fifth. Another rookie who suffered an early injury is the Indiana Pacers’ Chris Duarte, who suffered a shoulder injury and dropped out of the top five. Now, let’s take a look at how impressive some of these rookies have been.
Mobley is already surpassing major milestones
It’s safe to say that drafting Mobley was one of the best things this front office has done since LeBron James left town. Well, it seems like one of the best things thus far. Now, Mobley has done something for the Cavs that even LeBron hadn’t managed. In his 14th game he became the fastest player to reach 200 points and 100 rebounds.
In his 14th career game tonight, @evanmobley became the fastest player in @cavs history to reach 200 PTS and 100 REB.
— Cavs Notes (@CavsNotes) November 14, 2021
The previous fastest to 200 PTS & 100 REB in team history was 16 games by Hot Rod Williams in 1986. The last NBA rookie to do so was DeAndre Ayton (14g) in 2018
Overall, he’s starting to look like a truly dominant defensive rim-protector. On top of that, he’s excellent against perimeter players, which has made a big difference for the Cavaliers’ defense this year.
On the offensive side of the ball, he’s really progressing game-by-game. Before the injury, Mobley was averaging nearly 15 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor. Now, that 49 percent shooting might seem low for a big man, and in a way it is.
However, with Mobley I expect his shooting to fluctuate with him testing out his shooting limits. The only thing he can do on the offensive side of the court is get better. So the more shots Mobley takes, the more comfortable he will become, only months down the line. Again, hopefully this doesn’t sideline him for too long, because it looks like it was a two-horse race to win Rooke of the Year, with himself and Barnes.