Coming into his second season, it was understandable for Cleveland Cavaliers fans to be pumped about Evan Mobley, with both ends of the floor in mind.
In his first season, he narrowly missed out on the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award, and has averages of 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per contest. His touch and finishing in the paint, intuition as a passer and cutter, and his wide-ranging defensive abilities were consistently on display, and there were a number of mid-range flashes as a shot creator.
So far this season, Mobley has had some tough games, sure, as all young bigs do, but by and large, he’s done well and has picked it up as the games have worn on. He’s had 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per contest, to go with averaging 1.0 steals.
One would still like to see him show progress more over handfuls of games as a catch-and-shoot player, as he’s converted on just four-of-19 from three-point range (21.1 percent). Also, Mobley has had some more instances where he’s had fouling troubles.
That said, it has been a plus that Mobley has taken threes in the past few games, and on the season, Mobley has had 2.7 fouls per game, which isn’t a ton compared to how well he affects shot either on-ball or as a helper. Mobley’s feel on both ends of the floor, especially for a 21-year-old player, also has regularly aided the Cavaliers throughout games, too, and far more often than not, he’s impacted games defensively.
With both ends in mind in this sense, as well, Mobley’s rebounding growth has been great to see thus far in his second year.
Mobley’s rebounding growth has been something fans should be paying more attention to in his second year with the Cavs.
Mobley has had some of an uptick in his rebounding splits, at the aforementioned 9.0 per game to begin this season, and he’s averaged 11.8 boards in his last 10 contests. He also tacked on 15 boards on Monday night at the Toronto Raptors to go with 18 points, albeit in a loss.
Through 21 games, his rebounding percentage is up to 13.9 percent, from 12.0 percent in his rookie campaign. In Year 2, the USC product has had a healthier defensive rebounding percentage of 19.2 percent, as compared to 17.4 percent in Year 1. Some of the uptick there has had to do with Lauri Markkanen (now on the Utah Jazz via the Mitchell trade) no longer playing alongside Mobley for extended stretches, but it’s evident that Mobley has exhibited progression in that area from improved anticipation and some added functional strength.
Now, Mobley is not the defensive rebounding presence of Jarrett Allen or Kevin Love, two guys that simply are far sturdier in frame than Mobley at this juncture, and much more experienced. And looking onward, Mobley’s rebounding splits can still be an area for improvement. The youngster still can get caught in compromising position in that area at times with him still fairly thin, despite extensive offseason work on his body, which did pay off, in fairness.
Having said that, regardless of Jarrett Allen missing some games this season thus far playing into Mobley’s increased rebounding totals in some recent contests, Mobley’s positioning has gotten better, and that’s been encouraging to see.
He’s going to be a key contester of shots, too, so that can lead to some potential for opposing offensive rebounds, however, he’s more than held his own frequently, and offensively, has had some big putbacks for the Wine and Gold of late. Those aren’t going to be there necessarily a considerable amount of the time, and Mobley getting back in defensive transition is crucial given his defensive worth to this team, but him picking his spots there can lead to some easy offense.
Anyway, while it’s still an aspect of his game that’s going to need continual finetuning for helping the Wine and Gold, Mobley has shown growth as a rebounder in his second year.
And with his feel for the game, that should be a trend that holds firm moving forward.