Cavs’ Evan Mobley is piling up double-doubles, adding to special Year 1

It’s going to sound like a broken record here, but I can’t say it enough: the Cleveland Cavaliers struck gold with Evan Mobley. It was a no-brainer draft selection for them at #3 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft; nobody’s disputing that.

Even with that having been the case, Mobley has been even better than one could’ve imagined in his first season. The USC product has had 14.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per contest in his rookie campaign to this point, and his defensive abilities are one of the reasons for the Cavaliers having the league’s fourth-best defensive rating this year.

Now, Mobley does need to finish the season strong still, and there had been some games this past month here and there where he had struggles for extended stretches on the offensive end. Mobley did have four games in a six-game span pre-All-Star break where he tallied scoring splits in the single digits, and he still does need to show more assertiveness at times on offense.

Nonetheless, the kid has looked like a potential superstar in the not-too-distant future for the Cavs throughout this season.

Also, in Cleveland’s near-significant comeback against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, without Darius Garland and Caris LeVert again, Mobley notched his 15th double-double. That’s the most rookie double-doubles from a Cavaliers rookie since Carlos Boozer in 2002-03, as the team pointed out. The next most after Mobley had been LeBron James in 2003-04 with 12 and Brevin Knight with the same amount in 1997-98.

Mobley keeps piling up double-doubles for the Cavs, and adding to a special Year 1.

Mobley is the undisputed frontrunner for Rookie of the Year this season, as he’s been one of the overwhelming reasons for the Cavaliers being the league’s surprise team this year.

Mobley has continually shown that for just a 20-year-old big, he sees the game like a season vet, and that’s allowed him to impact games in so many ways.

The stretch big potential will take time from a catch-and-shoot perspective for him, and I get that, but Mobley has shown great feel for getting to the right spots as a play finisher, low and mid-post polish and he’s operated well out of the elbows. Mobley has also helped the Cavaliers throughout games as a secondary playmaker, where he should probably be getting more opportunities at the moment too, with the Cavs so banged up from a primary playmaking standpoint.

And from there, as we’ve hit on ad nauseam here at KJG, Mobley’s defense, to reiterate, has been otherworldly for such a young player.

He’s more than capable in switching situations when needed, has made difficult often for opposing bigs in matchups, and while his closeouts off-ball at times could improve, his rim protection and shot altering otherwise has been crucial for Cleveland’s defense. Diddo for Jarrett Allen, to that point.

Only five players have averaged more blocks per game this season, and between Mobley and Allen, the Cavs have conceded the lowest opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area this season (58.7 percent), per NBA.com’s tracking data.

Granted, in Mobley’s case, while he’s just getting started here, and in plenty of instances, he’s done a great job on the glass, that is objectively an area, regarding positioning on the defensive end, where he’ll need to improve looking onward.

But with what he has done in a number of other areas, that’s pretty nitpicky, honestly, and Mobley will continue to get better rebounding-wise with more experience and as he gets stronger in coming years.

Now, it seems clear that Mobley won’t be touching Zydrunas Illgauskas’ Cavaliers rookie double-double record of 35 back in 1997-98, but he seems likely to pass Boozer (21) for fourth and could move past Hot Rod Williams (24) from 1986-87.

No matter where he ends up on that Cavs list, though, it seems obvious that Mobley should end up being the Rookie of the Year this go-round. When he’s played, the Cavaliers are 33-20, and he’s been the most consistent rookie throughout the year.