Thus far, it’s been a mixed bag for Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley
By Dan Gilinsky
Heading into this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, many had been putting the spotlight on Evan Mobley to take the next step.
Mobley has already proven himself to be one of the NBA’s top defenders. His versatility, length, fluidity, rim protection and team feel all have enabled him to be such a difference-maker there, even at his age. Mobley was named First-Team All-Defense last season, which was no small feat for a player then in his age-21 campaign. For such a young player, his instincts on that end of the floor are nothing short of incredible, and he helps the Cavaliers in a plethora of ways defensively.
Mobley still can improve on that end of the floor with how he deals with more physical bigs, and some traditional 5s when he’s playing there, but by and large, he’s elite defensively.
That being said, he has to be more consistent on the offensive end for the currently 2-4 Cavaliers to be at their best now and going forward.
Overall, his play has been mixed early on in the 2023-24 campaign.
Early on, it’s been a mixed bag for Mobley.
Through six games, Mobley has had solid splits at 15.2 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, and for the most part, he had been playing more so at the 5 with Cleveland without Jarrett Allen in five of those games. In some stretches, the Cavs haven’t been able to get him going as much, and that’s clearly not all on him.
The scoring from him has been a bit of an issue, though, and for him and the Cavaliers to take the next step, he’ll have to clean some things up on offense.