Cavs recent tweet shows how Evan Mobley is off to historic start

We’ve discussed it ad nauseam here at KJG; Evan Mobley has more than lived up to expectations through the first near-quarter of his rookie season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The USC product has had 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest so far, and at this juncture, he’s led all rookies in blocks. He has been a crucial reason why, along with Jarrett Allen and guys such as Ricky Rubio and Isaac Okoro, that the Cavaliers have been so stout defensively. And Mobley, even for a rookie, has led the league in contested shots per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data.

Overall, on both ends of the floor, despite being a rookie and such a young player at only 20 years old, Mobley has firmly established himself as one of Cleveland’s most important players. The young big seems to be well on-track for stardom in the near future, and sooner than later.

His finishing, driving feel, touch, improvement recently as a catch-and-shoot player, his passing expertise and defensive impact have all made a difference, as Cavs fans know. It’s hardly shocking that Mobley was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November on Thursday by the NBA, with all he’s done for the Wine and Gold.

Additionally, though, a recent tweet from Cavs Notes, with statistics courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau, really was telling to me about Mobley’s great play early on. This featured stats prior to Wednesday’s convincing win for Cleveland at the Miami Heat, albeit over a team that was without Jimmy Butler and will be without Bam Adebayo for an extended period.

Cavs: The above tweet shows how Mobley is off to a historic start.

As the Cavaliers demonstrated via Elias, Mobley has had a similar start to the likes of Bill Walton, Chris Webber and Mychal Thompson, who was a good big man for many years in the Association in his own right.

Now, Mobley does have some stretches where he has rookie moments, and he was scoreless at Miami in the first half. There are sequences where he seems to get caught inside without outlets here and there, leading to live-ball turnovers going the other way, and going forward, Mobley does need to get stronger, as we know.

That said, Mobley has done an outstanding job for the Cavaliers thus far, for such a young player, and as that above tweet highlights, he’s done a little bit of everything for this team already.

Mobley has consistently found ways to contribute for Cleveland, even in games/stretches when he has not had things going as a scorer, for example. And by and large following that, those lulls haven’t persisted for too much of an extended period. In that realm, Mobley ended up having 17 points for the Cavs in the second half in Miami, and in that game, he had four blocks, four assists and a steal.

He also has been showing encouraging signs as a catch-and-shoot player, as although he did miss four games due to a right elbow sprain, with games before he was sidelined factored in, he’s hit 40.0 percent from three in his last nine outings. It’s been on 2.8 attempts per game, which isn’t a ton, but that sort of thing has shown that Mobley, who could very well end up being the Rookie of the Year, keeps improving.

Plus, as we’ve often emphasized, Mobley has great positional sense off the ball on both ends, is a rare passer for a big, even in today’s league, and his defense has been invaluable for this Cleveland team that has shown tons of promise. That’s even without Collin Sexton for the rest of the season now, unfortunately.

Anyway, as that Cavs tweet, again via Elias, highlighted, Mobley’s off to a historic start, and those totals through those previous 17 appearances put him among pretty darn good company.

It’s been a pleasure to watch Evan, who has not seemingly not even scratched the surface of what he could become with the Wine and Gold, too. This kid is going to be something special soon, and he’ll only continue to get better and better with more experience.