Could Cavs play Mobley at the 3? It’s so crazy it just might work

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a bold decision last season, a decision that was widely panned until it suddenly began to work. In a league where teams are increasingly downsizing to get more speed and skill on the court, the Cavs trotted out a starting lineup with three seven-footers in it.

Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen all started in Game 1 and for most of the season, with Markkanen as a jumbo small forward providing much-needed spacing. This “Tower City” look helped propel the Cavs to a top-5 defense, and when those three shared the court the Cavs had a +7.9 net rating across 621 minutes.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have to consider all options at small forward. Could Evan Mobley be an option at the 3? It’s so crazy it just might work

This summer that group was broken up, with Markkanen headed to the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell joining the Cleveland crew. That means the Cavs have to find another solution at small forward to start alongside their four young stars. Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade all have cases to fill that void.

One player that isn’t being talked about much as an option at the 3 is second-year player Evan Mobley. He certainly isn’t a natural small forward, but neither are any of the players in consideration. Terry Pluto floated the idea over on Cleveland.com.

Could that work, either as a starting group or as an option at times in the rotation? When we look a little closer, we find an option that is unorthodox, problematic, intriguing, and ultimately so crazy it just might work.