Growth in this scoring area is something to watch from Cavs’ Evan Mobley

Heading into his second season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, young big man Evan Mobley looks to be a dude that could be poised for a second-year leap.

For starters, his rookie campaign was a pretty damn special one. He had 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per contest, and long-term, he could eventually be the centerpiece for the Cavaliers. That’s with both ends of the floor in mind, and with what Mobley showed on the defensive end as a first-year player, it’s difficult to suggest what the ceiling could be for the dude.

We don’t have to get into all that right now, anyway.

What is something that fans will be intrigued to see this upcoming season, though, is how Mobley can step up his offense.

There were some struggles for him in Year 1 on that end, in fairness, and the catch-and-shoot progression is something that is an area he’ll need to improve in coming years. If that comes along, it’d be big for him, clearly.

That being said, Mobley’s touch in the paint, finishing, cutting feel/timing and his secondary playmaking were all huge positives in his first season, and I firmly believe with what’s seemingly been a productive offseason, we’ll see him level up on offense in Year 2. The shot creation signs in the mid-range last season are something he should be able to build on in his second year, and looking onward.

Along those lines, one area of his scoring we should see real growth in in the 2022-23 campaign, too.

Growth as a driver is a scoring area to keep an eye on from Mobley for the Cavs in Year 2.

Mobley demonstrated that he can make plays via self-creation as a scorer last season, albeit with some low points. For a rookie natural big, there’s plenty to build off in that regard, however, and he should be able to take that a step further in the season ahead.

Mobley is going to receive his share of off-ball looks this upcoming season/going forward of course, but in considerable stretches likely matched up on-ball against opposing bigs, he should be able to get downhill on drives. We see some of that last season from him, with somewhat mixed results, objectively.

Mobley had 3.5 drives per game as a rookie, of which he attempted 1.9 shots per contest, and shot 38.9 percent in those shot types, per Second Spectrum’s tracking data. Clearly, there needs to be better efficiency from him in those instances from here to be able to build out his shot profile and make him more capable to take advantage of often less athletic matchups.

Fortunately, with the shooting of Mitchell in the fold with him looking onward, that should help him and Jarrett Allen, as Jackson Flickinger of Fear The Sword touched on. Often in combination with Garland, too, involving Mitchell, Mobley’s passing instincts should only aid him further on-ball in years to come.

Regarding Mobley’s driving, with him having a solid handle against opposing bigs, after a full offseason to work on his game and on-ball abilities, I’d expect to see him display legit development in getting to more quality looks.

Of course, he’ll have needed to get stronger to be more efficient in those areas, but if Mobley get to good, in-rhythm push shots in matchups, those can bode well still even if he’s not getting to the restricted area.

The same should apply to getting to hook shots a bit after drives, where he should be able to utilize his 7-foot-3 wingspan, particularly when he’s defended by shorter defenders. Granted, those looks will more so come via situational post-ups, even still those could be counter options here and there on drives.

In any case, as it pertains to Mobley, while the shooting outside of the paint and potentially supplemental playmaking are areas offensively many will be paying attention to, and deservedly so, growth as a driver is something to monitor also.

Time will tell if that could be an aspect of the game we could see at some legit volume in his second year, but with his athleticism, paint touch and feel for using functional ball fakes, that could become more prevalent as he gains more experience.