Ask around the Cleveland Cavaliers fandom and most people would probably tell you they would be satisfied with Evan Mobley confidently leaping into the 10 best players in the NBA by season's end. Olin Simplis is not most people.
Simplis is Mobley's trainer and the expectations being thrust upon the rising star from his inner circle are monstrous. Top 10? Not good enough. Top five is where the standard is being set for the All-Star big man.
“I honestly think this kid can be in the top five for the rest of his life while he’s in the NBA starting today,” Simplis told Mark Media in an interview for RG. "That’s my goal -- to continuously bring that out of him. As long as I’m a small start in his circle, that’s what we’re going to be pushing for.”
Simplis clearly has a great deal of belief in Mobley. The trainer was comparing the Cavaliers big man to the likes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Garnett, and Anthony Davis. Not only did he think Mobley could be top five, but Simplis was unafraid of including him in the race for MVP.
Cavaliers young cornerstone being challenged to rise among NBA’s elite
Trying to figure out how players rank among their peers can often be a task worth too much trouble. There is an incredibly amount of subjectivity involved in the process and it would be exceptionally rare to see everyone agree on the same list.
Usually, there can be a general consensus found on who the best player is when the dominance is clear, obvious, and mostly unrivaled. LeBron James at the peak of his powers is a great example.
It would be fair to say that, currently, settling on Nikola Jokic as the best player in the world would be a pretty inoffensive statement to most. The arguments starts from there.
At this current timeframe, the debate mostly involves who slots in where though. For the most part, the majority should agree Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Luka Doncic are the next tier of top-five players in basketball.
There is surely someone already angry with some of the ideas put forward here. Hopefully, on the grand scale, most should have few complaints. That leaves one spot open in the top five. How does Mobley fill it and who is his direct competition?
The latter would involve the likes of Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, and to a lesser extent, guys like Stephen Curry and LeBron. Jayson Tatum would normally be right in the mix, but the Achilles injury quietly removes him from the conversation presently.
The answer of how Mobley invites himself to be considered among that group is not rocket science. A noticeable offensive leap is the necessity. Does that do enough to meet his trainer's lofty expectations? Wishful thinking would say yes, but the progress has to be more than sizeable.