Cavs’ Evan Mobley epitomizes NBA Defense Week

When you think of Cleveland Cavaliers phenom Evan Mobley, you probably first think of one thing: the defensive end of the floor.

Sure, the dude flashed tons of potential and his share of moments on the offensive end in his rookie year, but he has the makings of a generational defender. For a rookie, he was truly invaluable for the Cavaliers on the defensive end of the floor, and him and Jarrett Allen were huge for the Wine and Gold’s turnaround on that end.

In regards to Mobley, his combination of fluidity/agility, positional awareness, versatility, team defensive feel and rim protection qualities all were so impressive for such a young player in his first season in 2021-22. He’s only going to get better as he gains more experience, too, which is something else, truly.

Now, Mobley does need to show further development on the offensive end in his second season, and he’ll need to exhibit growth in the catch-and-shoot game from three-point land to maximize his offense in coming years. I do believe we’ll see him have a Year 2 offensive leap, and the shot creation will be there, on the plus side.

But, as we expressed earlier, the defense from Mobley is already big-time for the Cavaliers, and for a 21-year-old, his impact on that end is rare.

Along those lines, with Monday marking the beginning of #NBADefenseWeek across the league’s social channels, it’s cool for fans to take a closer look at what the youngster did last season, and peer a bit into just how special he’ll be moving forward.

Mobley truly epitomizes NBA Defense Week with what he provides for the Cavs on that end of the hardwood.

Mobley, as we alluded to, especially in tandem with Allen, was invaluable for Cleveland defensively in 2021-22.

Evan does need to get stronger, and I’m sure what will have been a full offseason will have helped in that aspect. Even with him being naturally thinner, though, he’s still a terrific defensive player, and we saw that last season, despite him then being just a rookie.

Mobley’s agility for a 6-foot-11 player enables him to stay in front of plenty of guards and quick wings, and his positioning to mirror drivers and his sound shot contests make things so tough for opponents, even when needed in switchout scenarios. He can get his hands on some jumpers with high contests, too, which is not something you see all the time.

Additionally, we saw last season how Mobley is such a gifted rim protector, and his contests and blocks coupled with him rarely fouling, based on the volume of shots defended, make him so difficult to convert on in the paint and at the rim. Quite simply, the dude often seems like he’s everywhere.

Here’s an example of that shot blocking on a drive by Zach LaVine from early in the season. Now, the Chicago Bulls were heavily shorthanded because of a COVID-19 issue within their team at this point not helping drivers, but it was still an insane play by Mobley at the rim in swallowing this LaVine attempt.

This was another instance where Mobley’s timing and skill set as a tremendous rim protector erased a drive by another All-Star player in Donovan Mitchell, and goodness did Mobley get up there for this one.

This was another outstanding sequence from last season from Mobley. He read the play out off-ball, rotated to a sharpshooter in Desmond Bane with urgency, albeit under control, and eventually prevented this shot from getting off by engulfing it without making body contact. The dude is such a special defensive playmaker.

As for more examples, this Cavs tweet demonstrated just how gifted Mobley is on the defensive end with his shot blocking abilities. He had a robust 1.7 blocks per contest, and it’ll be amazing to watch him do damage in that area for years to come.

Overall, Mobley and Allen made their share of plays as rim protectors, and while Allen led qualified players in opposing field goal hit rate within 6 feet, Mobley placing eighth in that category, as h/t BasketballNews.com, for a rookie, was pretty darn great, too.

Factoring in all he does on the defensive end of the floor for the Cavaliers, with his switchability, rim protection, shot altering even when needed in switchouts often, and his otherworldly IQ, Mobley definitely epitomizes NBA Defense Week.

His play there speaks for itself, and he’s only going to continue to get better.