Cavs Notes showcases how Evan Mobley has stepped it up a notch

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ selection of Evan Mobley in the 2021 NBA Draft has turned out to be a home run, simply put. I’m not going to give the Cavaliers a huge pat on the back for drafting Mobley, particularly with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green having been off the board, but Mobley has proven to be such a significant difference-maker for Cleveland.

The 20-year-old big is so multi-faceted, and can affect games in a variety of ways on both ends of the floor, even for such a young player, and a rookie at that.

On the year, he’s had 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per outing, and the more experience he gets, the better he seems to be out there.

And although the Cavaliers, like so many other clubs, have had injury problems and COVID-19-related absences, such as with Mobley himself in December, since he’s been back, Mobley’s contributions have been all the more impactful in recent weeks.

Now some of it has been due to injuries to others, and Ricky Rubio going down for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL last month was crushing, and of late, Rajon Rondo has been out with hamstring soreness. Still, Mobley’s playmaking has made a difference, along with his scoring uptick.

In that realm, and on the defensive end, Mobley has stepped it up a notch, too, in the last few weeks, and following Cleveland’s big win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, a recent tweet from Cavs Notes expressed how the rook has been so on-point in that span. That was without Kevin Durant active, but the Cavs still took care of business.

That Cavs Notes tweet above showcases how Mobley has stepped it up a notch.

Mobley has had double-digit scoring in his last 12 games, and has had 17.3 points per outing on 56.5 percent shooting, as was mentioned above, and while he’s been off in catch-and-shoot situations from three, he has been getting it done in other ways.

There have still been the token lobs and/or cutting throwdowns from the USC product, a number of which have come in crucial situations during Cleveland’s five-game win streak. His chemistry with Darius Garland has hit a new level on those it seems, and two-way guy Brandon Goodwin has found ways to hit Mobley for great interior feeds at times, too.

On-ball, though, Mobley has really stepped it up, and has dating back to last month as well. We’ve seen him show continued progression as a post-up threat getting inside, make plays via post-up fadeaways, and he’s done a fine job utilizing jabs and a few dribbles here and there to generate space for pull-ups in the mid-range.

In those aforementioned last 12 games, even with the threes not falling (a ghastly 9.1 percent in that stretch), Mobley has knocked in 15-of-33 mid-range attempts in that span (45.5 percent), per NBA.com’s shooting data.

We’ve seen him sprinkle in push shots in recent weeks as well, and in those last 12 games, he’s connected on 22-of-36 (61.1 percent) of his hook shot attempts.

Additionally, the playmaking from Mobley has been on display, and while the turnovers (2.3 per game in his last 12 games) need to be trimmed down a bit on-ball, his passing vision is something one can’t teach. That’s especially when you consider he’s a 20-year-old rookie big.

On the defensive end, there have still been some instances where his closeouts to off-ball three-point shooters could be more on-point, but that’s correctable, and in-game, he’s shown he can adjust in that regard throughout contests to prevent those looks more.

And when you factor in Mobley’s uncanny feel for shot contests at the rim, and with how he can deter drivers on-ball when needed, it’s clear that he’ll only get better and better defensively with his IQ, positioning and with his fluidity.

Granted, he will still need to put on functional weight in coming years, and his defensive rebounding is an area he’ll have to improve, but I don’t see that as necessarily a notable concern, with how he affects other facets of the game for Cleveland.

Anyway, as Cavs Notes tweeted out on Monday, it’s again clear that Mobley’s stepped it up a notch, and the more I watch him, to echo our own Justin Brownlow’s sentiment, it’s apparent Mobley’s the Rookie of the Year frontrunner.