Mobley has flashed some stretch big qualities and could supplant Damian Jones relatively quickly in the rotation
Mobley didn’t show it in Vegas, as he shot only four-of-16 (25.0 percent) from three then, but in G League play last season, he did flash some stretch big potential.
With the Charge in 2022-23, he connected on 35.3 percent from deep. The volume wasn’t necessarily a ton of deep balls taken at 3.1, however, given what Mobley displayed in other areas, that was promising. He did knock in 35.2 percent of his then-3.8 deep attempts in his junior season at USC as well, so as a catch-and-shoot player, there could definitely be something there.
In time with the Cavs, maybe we’d see Mobley build and fine-tune that part of his game more, and in stretches at the 4 or 5, that could give Cleveland some more lineup versatility, too.
Looking onward, if the opportunities were to come for Mobley, particularly if the Cavaliers were to give him a team-friendly, standard deal, he could prove to be an upgrade relatively quickly over Damian Jones.
Cleveland did acquire Jones early this month via trade from the Utah Jazz, and his length and physicality could help the Wine and Gold’s defense somewhat, however, offensively, he doesn’t provide much.
Jones has been in and out of rotations for most of his career to this point, and while he’ll have to show it in meaningful play in the NBA, Isaiah Mobley would seem to be much more offensively viable, and defensively, he could still be competent.
If Isaiah Mobley were to at least factor in fairly regularly with Evan Mobley for stretches, and/or play as a backup 5 option, that’d make Jones expendable. If Cleveland were to flip Jones from there by next seasons’ deadline, so be it.
Now, one couldn’t blame Cleveland for going a different route, but if Mobley, who turns 24 in September, were to have his deal converted to a standard contract, feasibly via the multi-year minimum, non-guaranteed variety, it could be a solid move.
Considering what the Cavs were able to get from prior two-way contributors such as Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens, and how those players eventually had their two-way contracts converted, Cleveland taking that approach with Isaiah Mobley wouldn’t be shocking.