The Cleveland Cavaliers have spent the past five years waiting for Evan Mobley to make the leap to true superstardom. He certainly made strides in that regard by winning the Defensive Player of the Year award on a 64-win team, but questions remain about his offensive output.
Though incredibly skilled, Mobley has thus far been unable to put all of the pieces together as far as combining volume and efficiency is concerned—but he's closer than ever before.
Mobley is currently averaging a career-best 18.7 points per game. He's also on pace to set new highs in field goal attempts, three-point field goal attempts, and free throw attempts on a per-game basis, all the while increasing his output in assists.
Concerns justifiably exist over his career-worst 59.4 percent shooting at the charity stripe, but even that offers reason for intrigue.
Mobley shot 71.9 percent at the free throw line in 2023-24 and 72.5 percent in 2024-25. If he simply bridged the gap at 72.2 percent in 2025-26 while maintaining his volume, his scoring average would jump from 18.7 to 19.4—a figure that would have him knocking on the door of the arbitrary 20 many are waiting for him to reach.
Thankfully, Mobley's growth hasn't been limited to free throws and mere statistics. He's actively displaying the characteristics of a top-tier scorer—assuming he makes the final assertive leap.
Evan Mobley is scoring more, shooting more, and close to a leap
Mobley averaged 18.4 points on 41.7 percent shooting from the field and a 30.0 percent mark between the Cavaliers' first five games of the 2025-26 regular season. Considering he's only played 18, that five-game stretch has played a rather large role in his overall averages and percentages.
Over the past 13 games, Mobley has increased his efficiency to elite levels at 18.8 points on 52.9 percent shooting from the field and an eye-opening 40.0 percent mark from beyond the arc.
Mobley scored at least 20 points in six of those 13 games, and had another three with 18. That gives him 11 games with at least 18 points on the season, which isn't quite as arbitrary or insignificant a number as one might think when considering that he averaged 18.5 points per contest in 2024-25.
A season ago, Mobley recorded his ninth outing with at least 18 points in his 21st appearance—and is now beating that pace by three games.
Perhaps that isn't a mind-blowing fact, but it's a testament to the progress he's made in a rather short period of time. He also shot 31.7 percent from beyond the arc during the aforementioned 21-game stretch, whereas he's burying 36.0 percent of his attempts in 2025-26.
With improved efficiency and an uptick in volume in a shorter period time, Mobley has one last hurdle remaining: Developing a more assertive mentality as a scorer.
It's a promising start, as he's scored at least 20 points in 44.4 percent of his first 18 games—up from 37.5 percent in 2024-25. He's doing so with even fewer shot attempts than his skill and efficiency enable him to, but has been more assertive nevertheless.
The Cavaliers need Mobley to firmly decide if he'll ever be a go-to scoring option, but the progress he's making early in 2025-26 shouldn't be overlooked.