Cavs Player Grades: All about growth for Evan Mobley
By Ismail Sy
Evaluating Mobley’s offensive game
The big themes for Mobley offensively this season were aggression and consistency and even with the arrival of Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs wanted to use this season to continue to unlock Mobley’s offensive capabilities.
Mobley got off to a bit of a slow start to the season, as from October to December he only averaged 14.7 points per game on about 11 shots per game. While he did shoot 56% from the field during this period, Mobley was simply not aggressive enough offensively and it led to Mitchell and Darius Garland carrying a huge load offensively throughout the first half of the season. However, when the calendar turned to 2023, we saw a completely different version of Mobley.
From January to March, Mobley averaged 18 PPG on 56% shooting and he averaged 13 shots per game. He not only upped his level of aggression and looking for his shot, but he also upped his level of physicality during the second half of the season.
He set himself up nicely for a quality playoff debut, but it unfortunately was all downhill for the young big man. He was overwhelmed by the bruising style of basketball that the New York Knicks played and his numbers showed it. He averaged a measly 9.8 PPG on 46% from the field, a far cry from the numbers he was putting up in the second half of the season.
Mobley had a hard time finishing in the paint against the physical Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, as his finesse game was stopped stone cold. In all fairness though, this was Mobley’s first playoff series and his offensive game will improve as time goes along, but this season offered inconsistency on that end of the floor.
Fortunately, even though his aggression varies, his efficiency has never really been a question and having that part down pat is very encouraging. Mobley has shown some flashes of the offensive big man he can be, and given his work ethic, I have no doubts that he will improve on this end of the floor.