Evan Mobley is a fantastic basketball player still just entering the prime of his career. He won Defensive Player of the Year just 14 months ago. He has a chance to be the greatest big man in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And for Cleveland to move forward, they have to trade him.
Cleveland has to trade Evan Mobley
That is not to say that the Cavaliers want to trade him. They have reportedly rebuffed all manner of interest in the young big, including currently witholding him from trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. While interest in Mobley has been reported from all sides, including the newly-defeated Oklahoma City Thunder, no hint of Mobley being available has come from Cleveland's camp.
And yet, it's the only logical path forward if the team insists on building around Donovan Mitchell.
There are many things to love about Mitchell, from his commitment to Cleveland to his ability to score at will. He is a perennial All-NBA player and made it onto the MVP ballot last season. He is on the cusp of signing a new long-term contract to stay on the Cavaliers for years to come.
Yet building a contending team around Mitchell is easier said than done. He is the size of a point guard and has proven defensively inept, especially on the playoff stage. He is also not a good enough ball-handler or passer to make him the full-time point guard. That necessitates placing another point guard beside him -- be that Mike Conley in Utah, or Darius Garland and now James Harden in Cleveland.
Add that to Mitchell's inconsistent playoff track record, and you get a player whose weaknesses hold him back just enough from being the best player on a championship team. He cannot rise to that level of undeniable offensive force to make up for the rest.
That means that for Cleveland to truly contend for a title, they must find a different player to be their best player.
Evan Mobley isn't a superstar
There was once hope that Mobley could ascend to that position. That the combination of his elite defense and burgeoning offensive game would combine into a Top 10 player in the league. That has not happened yet.
Perhaps it will -- Mobley is still only 24 years old, after all -- but the odds are that he will never be enough of a creator with the ball nor off-ball shooter to be impacting the offense on a high enough level. Great defender, decent passer and scorer, multi-time All-Star but not Top 10 player in the league.
That is a fine player to have, but the Cavaliers need someone better. And unfortunately, they are paying Mobley like he is that superstar; he makes $50 million next season, and by the final year of his current deal will be on the books for $61 million.
Trade Mobley for a star
Trading Mobley is the only chance the Cavaliers have of finding a better player than Donovan Mitchell to propel this team toward a title. Kenny Atkinson did everything he could to squeeze the most from this roster, but in the playoffs both he and the players were exposed. They were not good enough.
Perhaps it's a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. Perhaps it's Jalen Williams. Perhaps it's a haul of draft picks that Cleveland can pivot and use to land the next star. Could Jaylen Brown be on the move?
Whoever the player is, he must have Top 10 upside. That doesn't appear to be in the cards for Evan Mobley any longer, and that's why the Cavaliers must trade him this offseason or commit to another season of treading water, good but not good enough.
Add us as a preferred source on Google