All is good, as Cavs’ Evan Mobley once again tops Rookie Ladder

The obvious headliner in Wednesday night’s win for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Utah Jazz was easily Lamar Stevens. He put up 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. Stevens also made one of his two three-point attempts, had seven rebounds, and even kicked in an assist.

Lauri Markkanen seems to be finding his lost shooting stroke over time, as he had a great night as well, chipping in 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The best stat from Markkanen however, is his 80 percent shooting from three in that one. He’s been a key contributor to the team, by hitting mostly open shots. He had fallen off lately, but if Wednesday night showed us anything, it’s that Markanen will keep shooting, and most of the time we’ll have to live with the results.

The Jazz were shorthanded, and without Rudy Gobert, admittedly; even still, the Cavaliers took care of business, which was great to see, and they look to be on the upswing again.

The Cavaliers sit at 24-18, which is light-years ahead of where they were last year at this time. That record is good for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference if the playoffs started today. They’ve also won three out of four, losing only to the best team in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors.

So while the Cavs have been winning, and enjoyable to watch, I feel like Evan Mobley has kind of taken a back seat as of late. However, that could not be further from the truth, and the fact that he is once again atop the rookie ladder this week is proof.

The last two weeks, the Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner had taken over the top spot (you can view more here from last week’s), leaving Mobley in second. This week justice has been done, as Evan Mobley sits atop the throne, followed by the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham, who’s the highest he’s been all season. Following the rookie from Oklahoma State is the Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes at three, who has looked sluggish lately, Wagner at four, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Josh Giddey as the fifth rung.

With that being said, it’s about time we start talking about some of the second-round picks that have already made a name for themselves, like Ayo Dosunmu and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Herb Jones. So let’s take a look at the second rookie ladder of the New Year!