Evan Mobley is reaching his potential, and now so are the Cleveland Cavaliers

The 6’11 big has been empowered under new head coach Kenny Atkinson, and now both he and the Cavs are thriving

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the eventual NBA Champion Boston Celtics in the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals, 4-1, in what was largely a series where the Cavaliers never had a realistic shot of actually winning.

They lost Jarrett Allen for the postseason when he suffered a broken rib in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic. Donovan Mitchell suffered a calf strain in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the Celtics that would sideline him for the rest of the series, and Darius Garland was never able to play up to his standards after coming back from having his jaw broken and losing 15 pounds mid-season.

However, the Cavaliers had one very bright spot even in defeat: the play of their third-year big Evan Mobley.

As the lone big on the floor during that series against the Celtics, Mobley averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 62.7% from the floor in those five games.

What Mobley is capable of doing defensively has never been in question. His game-winning block of Franz Wagner in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Magic is a microcosm of the impact he has on that end of the floor nightly.

But this? This was something else entirely.

Mobley was a legitimate difference-maker on offense. He was too quick for bigs to guard and punished smaller players for trying to stop him near the basket. He made plays for his teammates when they were in a position to score. He even handled the ball more and initiated the offense!

He was blossoming before our very eyes, and it felt like his impact on offense was on the way to catching up to his impact on defense. Even in defeat, it felt like the Cavs found a path to becoming a real threat in the Eastern Conference if this is the kind of production and aggression they could get out of him consistently going forward.

With that in mind, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired JB Bickerstaff in the offseason and hired Kenny Atkinson as their new head coach. It wasn’t that Bickerstaff was doing a bad job; the Cavaliers advanced deeper into the postseason every season under his watch, but he just wasn’t able to get the most out of the team offensively.

Atkinson was the natural choice to lead a team with four young All-Star caliber players to the next level. In part because his reputation as a creative offensive mind that encouraged ball and player movement was the perfect remedy to the stagnant offense that was overly reliant on the heroics of individual players under Bickerstaff.

However, what truly made him the perfect hire was his proven track record of player development. He got the most out of his young players at every stop, including current Cavaliers Caris LeVert and Jarret Allen when they were teammates on the Brooklyn Nets. If anyone could get the most out of Evan Mobley this season, it would be Atkinson.

That brings us to the present day, where the Cleveland Cavaliers are a franchise record-setting 13-0 (and counting) and have the best offense in the entire NBA. All while Evan Mobley is playing the best and most inspired basketball of his young career.

Talk about absolutely NAILING a hire.

Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images

Atkinson has transformed the Cavaliers into an offensive juggernaut capable of scorching their opposition so badly the game is effectively over at halftime. He’s also led this scoring renaissance while maintaining the stalwart defensive identity the Cavaliers established under Bickerstaff.

His most notable achievement thus far has been finally tapping into the potential of Evan Mobley.

Through 13 games, Mobley is averaging a career-high 17.8 points per game on a career-low 30.4 minutes per contest. He’s done this on a career-high 23.8% usage percentage while maintaining a 62.1% true shooting percentage, only slightly down from his career-best 62.6% he set last season.

Mobley scored 23 or more points four times TOTAL in the 50 games he played last season with the Cavaliers. It took him 11 games this season to already equal that total. It looks like he’s going to blow past that number this season, and that’s the most jarring part about his play this season: how he LOOKS.

There are statistics that can be looked up and listed that can tell you how much better Mobley has played this season, but you really have to sit down and watch him play to appreciate his development.

Mobley is playing free and without fear when he has the ball in his hands. The lack of physical strength that made him hesitant on offense is gone, now he’s attacking defenses aggressively and refusing to be denied. For the first time there is a sense that he believes he can get to his spots and go get a bucket no matter who is offering resistance on the opposing team.

Multiple times during this season, the only appropriate reaction to his play has been, “Since when has he been able to do THAT?”

In the clips above, Mobley attacks and scores on Draymond Green, Brook Lopez, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. What stands out the most is how comfortable he looks. His confidence with that ball in his hands has never been higher. He’s bringing the ball up the court himself and looking for his own shot more now than he ever has in his previous three seasons combined.

However, for as many signs of progress that Mobley is figuring it out on offense as there are, he’s still nowhere near close to being a finished product.

His increased usage has also led to an increase in turnovers. He’s too susceptible to being stripped by defenders, and his ball-handling skills still need refining. Mobley’s jump shot, which he has worked diligently to improve this offseason, still isn’t quite there yet. He’s only shooting 33% from three this season, and his three-point volume needs to increase beyond 1.6 3PA a game.

Despite the areas of his game that need more refining, the strides Evan Mobley has made as an offensive player are still undeniable. Despite while sharing the floor with three other All-Star caliber players in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen he has managed to expand his offensive game and help launch the undefeated Cavaliers into a new stratosphere as a franchise.

Kenny Atkinson talked openly about getting Evan Mobley more shots and playing through him more this season. He wanted to give Mobley the keys and allow him to show everyone just how special of a player he could be.

Now, 13 games into the 2024-2025 NBA season, it is clear that Evan Mobley is taking “The Leap,” and everyone is watching and waiting to see just how far he and the Cleveland Cavaliers can go.