Cavs’ Evan Mobley’s been inconsistent on O lately, but has been key on D

Throughout this season, we’ve seen how Evan Mobley was a home run draft selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers, as he’s been one of the big reasons why Cleveland has been one of the surprise teams in the NBA.

Mobley has been all one could’ve asked for and more for the Cavaliers, as he’s had 14.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. On both ends of the floor, he’s seldom played like a 20-year-old rookie, with his approach to the game, poise, basketball IQ and his wide range of abilities.

In a largely impressive rookie class, for most of the campaign, Mobley has looked to be the clear Rookie of the Year, and should eventually receive that award. To some degree, he appeared to be a darkhorse for being named an Eastern Conference All-Star, too.

All of that being said, there have been some rough moments for Mobley throughout the season, as was to be expected. Currently, Mobley seems to going through a rough patch on the offensive end, to some extent, also.

It hasn’t been overly concerning, in my opinion, but objectively, with what he’s often provided for much of the year, it’s been a bit underwhelming that in four of his last seven appearances, Mobley has had single digit scoring.

Granted, in a Darius Garland-less loss at the Houston Rockets on Feb. 2, Mobley did have a career-best 29 points on 12-20 (60.0 percent) shooting, and his aggressiveness paid off in Cleveland’s win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. In that one he shot only 6-of-15 (40.0 percent), but he canned 6-of-7 from the free throw line, and finished out with 18 points.

It does seem that Mobley is hitting a bit of a rough patch offensively, though, but Garland missing five games in that span clearly had some to do with it, and I think post-All-Star break, Mobley will be just fine. Lauri Markkanen, when he’s back, should aid Mobley and others, too.

Either way, however, even with some inconsistencies of late from Mobley on offense, his defense has made a difference typically in a sizeable way still, and that’s been a positive takeaway.

Even with some off offensive performances lately, Mobley’s defense has still been key for the Cavs.

It’s been apparent for most of the season that Mobley is an outstanding defender, regardless of age, and his basketball intellect on that end of the floor has made him a difference-maker, even at just 20 years old. That’s held true even with the offensive inconsistencies for him offensively of late.

There have been some times where he’s been a bit off on-ball in this recent span of contests, but I can’t say that’s been the norm. For the most part, we’ve still seen Mobley make things difficult on opposing forwards, and when needed, per usual, he’s been more than up to the task against wings and occasionally against opposing guards.

Additionally, Mobley’s team defensive instincts and feel have continually given the Cavaliers a lift in this stretch, aside from perhaps Cleveland’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, where MVP candidate Joel Embiid got the better of the Cavs. That was without recent trade acquisition James Harden, too.

Circling back to Mobley’s team defensive impact, though, he’s still had 1.4 blocks per outing in these last seven contests, to go with averaging 1.1 steals in that span.

He’s plus-minus of plus-1.6 in those games doesn’t necessarily indicate the defensive work, factoring in the Garland-less minutes, but Mobley still having a solid net rating of plus-2.5 is meaningful, along with his defensive rating being 102.9.

The USC product has come up with timely blocks and takeaways for this Cleveland squad in recent weeks, and his ability to time up those plays as a rotator off-ball has been huge for either igniting runs or helping the Cavaliers close out games. Mobley has continually affected winning on that end, to echo part of our own Justin Brownlow’s point; this play was from that comeback win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday, for instance.

This was another instance where Mobley’s basketball intellect, and his length, along with that, paid dividends, and essentially closed out that Indy game. He’s there as a rotator to help at the rim, but also makes the pass to the corner very difficult, and his 7-foot-4 wingspan shut the door.

This was another play here where, following a Spurs offensive rebound, Mobley’s timing as a helper to a driving Doug McDermott led to a block (in the second clip), erasing a second chance opportunity. And while Mobley does need to improve his defensive rebounding, we’ve seen this sort of play from him regularly.

The All-Star break soon to come should help Cleveland and Mobley find ways to get him re-established offensively, and perhaps allow him to playmake out of the mid-post more, but his defense has still made a noticeable impact lately, which has been great to see.

It just goes to show how he’s such an impressive young player, and it’s no wonder why the Cavs are 32-17 when Mobley has played this season and 3-5 without him.