Cavs fans should be confident Evan Mobley is ready for big stage

Even with all he’s done for the Cleveland Cavaliers already, it’s still sometimes hard to fathom that Evan Mobley is just in his second season. He’s a 21-year-old big that is still just getting started.

Mobley still has hiccups at times, and one has to expect that; he’s a really young player and bigs often take a long time to develop. There’s still areas he has to grow in, and those are mostly on offense, as it pertains to his three-point shooting and honing in on taking next steps with his ball handling.

That aside, he’s off to a terrific start in his career, and nobody truly knows what his ceiling could be at this juncture. As this season has worn on for him, Mobley has figured stuff out more as well, and his most recent play over the last month-and-a-half or so has been particularly impressive.

Mobley’s posted 18.6 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per outing in his last 15 games, and over those outings, he’s had a cumulative net rating of plus-12.2. In eight of those games, he’s tallied multiple blocks, and he’s had nine in the last three contests.

In the latest chunk of past games, too, he’s been especially on-point, and with how he’s played lately, it should make Cavs fans all the more confident in him for what’s to come.

Cavs fans should have more assurance about Mobley being ready for the big stage from his recent play.

Mobley is a young player, and there’s inherently going to be some rough moments from him, however, with how he’s been playing, there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll be ready to deliver in the playoffs. He still has a ways to go as a perimeter shooter, and in the postseason, him shooting several threes in games is probably not something one should be clamoring for in that setting.

That said, him being more aggressive on offense has paid dividends, and he’s improving as a situational driver, and he has been finding ways to aid the team as a supplemental playmaker. Mobley has been getting to his spots to avail himself as a roller, has been big in some key matchups, and his finishing has been a constant, which has helped Cleveland’s key offensive threats more and more of late.

In addition, Mobley has had a monstrous impact on the defensive end continually for Cleveland, and his two-way play was huge for the Cavaliers down the stretch in their overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Monday, albeit versus a shorthanded Celtics team. In Cleveland’s close win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, he came up clutch, too, though. He had 25 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks against Boston, and at Miami, he posted 15 points, six rebounds, six assists (to three turnovers), two blocks and a steal.

Sure, there were a few ill-advised passes from Mobley down the stretch at Miami, which can happen with young players, but his finishing was key, as was a big block on Jimmy Butler in the closing moments, where the Cavs absolutely needed to tighten the screws.

There have been so many impressive sequences from Mobley for a sizeable chunk of games since the turn of the calendar, and even more so for the past month it seems.

The Cavs stumbled down the stretch in a loss to the Denver Nuggets a couple of weeks back, even still, Mobley was outstanding then, with 31 points on 63.2 percent shooting, and he was a key cog in Cleveland’s near-comeback at the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 15.

Furthermore, Mobley has had three double-doubles in his last four appearances, and as we’ve demonstrated, he’s been playing much more assertive offensively, which should lead to more optimism about his postseason outlook.

Inexperience is obviously the concern with most of these young Cavaliers with the playoffs looming, and we won’t know how they’ll respond to that stage. But with how he’s been killing it for the Cavaliers lately, fans should be confident that Evan is ready to deliver then. Last year’s Play-In Tournament experience could help somewhat in that regard, too, at least in theory.