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!
Mobley’s back where he belongs
It’s strange at times to watch Evan Mobley play basketball, because everything just looks easy to him. He never seems to feel the pressure of the big moment, he never backs down from bigger players, and he just somehow finds a way to be around the ball at all times. The fact that he’s on pace for a historic rookie season, doesn’t phase the young man whatsoever.
He just looks like a kid who just loves playing basketball, and that’s part of the reason why it’s been so fun to watch the Cavs this year. However, don’t get it twisted, Mobley is looking like a future All-Star and possibly MVP someday.
In a recent poll from Hoops Hype, they questioned 17 NBA executives, and Mobley ranked in as the number six player under 25 in the NBA that they would want to start their franchise around. The next closest rookie? Cade Cunningham at 13.
I think once this season is over, we will look back and see how much we took Mobley’s immediate success for granted. I mean if you take a look out West, the Houston Rockets were in a somewhat similar situation as the Cavaliers coming into the year. Now, Jalen Green still has a lot of talent, but he also has a lot to prove, as he’s not really been excellent in his rookie year.
Overall, the main takeaway from this recent ladder is that once again, Evan Mobley is at the top of this year’s rookie class.
Cunningham’s starting to show why he went first overall
Even before this past summer’s draft, Cade Cunningham was known as a player who liked to take things slowly, and let the game come to him. Well he has done just that so far this season, and if you’ve been a patient Pistons fan, you are enjoying it, I’m sure.
He was great in the Pistons’ upset win over Utah last week. He took a little while to get into the flow of the game, but it actually helped him in the long run. He scored 18 points in the third quarter on his way to a 29-point night in the upset win. He had this to say after the game, via NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner:
"‘I know what I’m capable of doing to help a team win once I get into a rhythm,’ said Cunningham, appreciative his teammates stuck with him.”‘"
Cunningham then went on to thank his teammates for sticking with him through his slow start. Overall, the rookie guard is averaging over 15 points per game this season, while also grabbing five rebounds and five assists. As the season moves along Cunningham will only get more comfortable playing in the league, so his numbers should rise in the second half of the season.
But even though Cunningham is finally coming into his own lately, the Pistons are still one of the worst teams in basketball. It’s likely they will be selecting in the high lottery again, which is when they would get to pair Cunningham with a guy like Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith. A tandem of Cunningham, and Auburn’s Jabari Smith could be a real nightmare for the Cavaliers in the future.
Second-rounders getting some love
It’s not very often that we see players drafted in the second round of the NBA draft have much success. However, every year there are a couple of guys who start to stand out as the season progresses. This season, those second-rounders are Ayo Dosunmu of the Chicago Bulls, Herb Jones of the Pelicans, and Oklahoma City’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Dosunmu was able to shut down Cunningham when the Bulls played the Pistons earlier this week. He held the first overall pick to 3-of-11 shooting and only gave up eight points to the big guard, with him often in on-ball defense. On top of that, he forced Cunningham into six turnovers (the Ladder cuts off before this game). Dosunmu is a Chicago native and played his college ball at Illinois. He scored 10 points against Cunningham/Detroit that night, but his real impact came on defense, like I previously said.
The two other second-rounders making waves are Robinson-Earl and Jones. Jones has seen his minutes rise as of late, and is now averaging 8.5 points per game. On top of that, Jones has been vital to the Pelicans just as a big presence, with Zion Williamson still not suiting up yet this season.
Robinson-Earl was a very versatile player in college, and has been very versatile this season. For a very bad, but young Thunder team, Robinson-Earl has been sort of a rock of consistency for them. He’s averaging 7.5 points per game, while also grabbing more than five rebounds per game.
Robinson-Earl and Jones will most likely not see any playoff action this season, but Dosunmu could be vital to the Bulls in the playoffs. He’s able to give Lonzo Ball a rest, and is just as good of a defender as Ball has proven to be.
Overall, we’re finally starting to see the best players from the 2021 NBA Draft separate themselves from other rookies. And the best part of it all, is that Evan Mobley is still the best of all the rookies, and has shown no signs of slowing down.
The Cavaliers play three games in four days starting tomorrow, so look for Mobley to impress while playing against the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City, and the Brooklyn Nets over the next week or so.