For anyone that has been paying close enough attention, one member of the Cleveland Cavaliers is clearly being positioned to be the prime focus of scrutiny should the Cavs fall short of their goals this year. Evan Mobley, come on down.
The seeds for that being the fallout have been getting planted throughout the entire regular season, but they have especially picked up since around the time of the NBA trade deadline. If the Cavaliers fall short of the Eastern Conference Finals, someone has to dive on that sword.
A lot of the other excuses have gotten played out. The Cavaliers leaned heavily on the injuries for a reason as to why they could not make significant noise during their 64-win campaign. That will not work again in 2026.
Mobley has failed to deliver on the offseason expectations everyone had for him in many people's eyes. That has paved the way for him being the perfect scapegoat if Cleveland gets bounced earlier than the third round of the NBA Playoffs this season.
Evan Mobley will be the fall guy for any of the Cavaliers' shortcomings
It's not hard to believe Mobley will be dealt the blunt of the damage if the Cavaliers flame out in the second round or earlier. Listen to the way ESPN Cleveland talked about him in a segment on this very subject.
Aaron Goldhammer refuted the idea blame would fall on the shoulders of Kenny Atkinson after J.B. Bickerstaff's dismissal showed this way more of a player-centric problem. That is when the focus shifted to the young big man.
"I wonder if Evan Mobley would be the fall guy," Goldhammer said. "The Cavs, they already told you that they were willing to break up their group. ... Right now it appears with James Harden that Jarrett Allen is a better fit than Evan Mobley is."
That last point is not necessarily wrong either. Allen fits closer to the mold of bigs who have always operated best with Harden. Even if there is truth in that, those kinds of conversations set up the dialogue surrounding Mobley being a tradeable.
As do talking points about the Cavaliers shifting their focus to an even more aggressive win-now approach with solely Donovan Mitchell at the forefront, and what best supports him. All of it makes for the perfect storm of Mobley gulping hard if Cleveland fails.
With rumors of the Milwaukee Bucks having interest in the young Cavs star, that will certainly give Koby Altman a potential escape route too. The best path for Mobley to prevent such a fate would be to make himself invaluable for the rest of the campaign. That is a task that is easier said than done for a desperate Cavaliers franchise.