Cavs’ Evan Mobley Listed Among Potential All-Stars, And Team Hopes That Is The Case

September 3, 2024

Let there be no doubt, one of the reasons the Cavaliers hired Kenny Atkinson as coach was to help get Evan Mobley to another level offensively.

Or more specifically, to help Mobley become an NBA All-Star.

Defensively, Mobley is already elite. He and Jarrett Allen form one of the staunchest defensive frontcourts in the entire league. Offensively, Mobley is already good.

But the idea is, yes, for him to become even better. There is indeed room for growth. It’s more than just points and shooting percentages and analytics. It’s about doing it night after night and doing it when it means the most.

Mobley is on his way, that much we know. Now, again, the idea is to take him from “on his way” to something closer to “arrived.”

Perhaps this is the year it happens. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report thinks it might, listing Mobley among the 10 players who will make a push for their first All-Star Game in 2025.

“For starters, the Cleveland Cavaliers are more stable than ever,” Hughes wrote. “They’re led by a new head coach in Kenny Atkinson, they’re free from the drama of Donovan Mitchell‘s uncertain contract situation and they boast a core of four players (Mobley, Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen) who are all locked into deals that run through at least 2027.”

That’s really what it’s all about — Mobley fitting in better than ever.

“Individually, Mobley is also positioned to succeed,” Hughes added. “Last year showed steady gains as a facilitator (career-best 3.2 assists per game), three-point shooter (37.3 percent) and attacker (career-high 46.4 percent of his attempts came inside three feet). Though he didn’t repeat as an All-Defensive first-teamer due to missing the games-played threshold, Mobley was still elite on that end, finishing in the 94th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus.”

Hughes also pointed out that Mitchell and Garland are likely to get the lion’s share of the shots for the Cavaliers.

“With Mitchell and Garland on the ball, Mobley will struggle to get enough touches to average over 20.0 points per game,” Hughes wrote. “But he should be a double-digit rebounder and could climb up toward the 5.0-assists-per-game range while collecting a couple of blocks and a steal every night. Those averages might be enough to get him All-Star consideration if he also captains a top-three defense — which he did in 2022-23.”

So yes, success for the Cavs will often come down to how well Mobley (and the others) defend. But a rise from Mobley on offense will get him into the All-Star Game and help the Cavs really go places.