The Cleveland Cavaliers were banking on Evan Mobley to take another big leap for their status as title contenders to be completely unquestionable in 2025-26. The hopes have not matched the results just yet for Mobley and the Cavaliers.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, it is not just them who are taking notice of that reality. The rest of the NBA has certainly seen the struggles of the Cavaliers star thus far. There has been no hiding the matter.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN collected a bunch of murmurings happening across the NBA right now to put together 30 first-month lessons for 30 teams. Unsurprisingly, the big takeaway for the Cavaliers has involved the shortcomings of Mobley to this point.
"Are they better [than last year]? Probably not," an anonymous West scout told ESPN. "They've always needed Evan to get even better, and he's not there yet."
Cavaliers won't make it out of the East without an improved Evan Mobley
Mobley is only 24 years old. There is certainly no reason to believe the Cavaliers big man has hit the ceiling of what he will be as an NBA pro.
Cleveland is affording him the wiggle room to experiment with his game now. That one feels like a case of 'better late than never.' The problem with that would also be the urgency of when the Cavaliers need an improved Mobley to show up for them.
The leadership in the front office have indicated they believe this to be a multi-year championship window. Even if this season is not championship or bust, it is still a major opportunity to break through and, at the very least, build confidence with a deep postseason run.
To the point of what was being said by the scout speaking with ESPN, Mobley does not appear ready to take the step needed for the Cavaliers to be in position of capitalizing. The good thing is how many games are left on the schedule to change that.
Darius Garland is back in the mix now. The Cavaliers star point guard has always been great at elevating his teammates in the frontcourt for Cleveland. There should be a healthy expectation of Mobley taking advantage of his presence.
The uncomfortable ask in that scenario is if Mobley's production does go up, is that him genuinely improving or simply being a beneficiary of a great floor general? Time will only tell, but whatever the case is, the Cavaliers will undoubtedly need more from their star big man.