Evan Mobley’s Rise Has Cavs Teammates Believing Sky Is Limit: ‘Seeing It All Unfold Is Really Cool’

Darius Garland sees what the rest of us see when it comes to Evan Mobley. Namely, the Cavaliers’ power forward has taken it to another level this season.

That was on full display in Friday’s road win over the Dallas Mavericks, when Mobley erupted for 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and two swats. He finished 3-of-6 on 3-pointers, too.

So yeah, Mobley has taken that next step under first-year coach Kenny Atkinson. It’s a big reason the Cavs (30-4) sport the NBA’s best record and look like an unstoppable force.

Garland’s own game has risen as well. So he’s an expert on the subject of Mobley’s improvement.

“All-Star. Unicorn. All-Star. All-Star. All-Star,” Garland said of Mobley, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “He’s taking us over the top right now. He deserves to be in San Francisco (for the All-Star Game next month). Hopefully he will be.”

Things weren’t always this great with Mobley, but by golly, they assure are today.

“I saw him when he first came in and he was just, like, here sometimes. Now, he has a plan, and you can see what’s going through his mind and how aggressive he is,” Garland said.

“Seeing it all unfold in front of us is really cool. I don’t even think he knows how good he is and how important he is to this team. But we all do. He’s the one who is going to take us over the top for sure.”

Mobley is still just 23 years old. He’s averaging a career-high 18.9 points and is shooting a career-best 43.5 percent on threes. Think about that — a 7-footer hitting 44 percent from beyond the arc.

There was a time when you didn’t want Mobley shooting threes. Now, you pretty much can’t wait. It almost seems like an aberration when he misses.

You can just see his confidence in all areas, as Garland noted.

“His aggressiveness. His mindset,” Garland said. “It’s like nobody can mess with him and nobody can guard him.”

Yeah, it’s very much like that indeed. And it’s a big reason why the Cavs are where they are and why Mobley deserves recognition for it.

“He has taken that step,” star guard Donovan Mitchell said, via Fedor. “It’s beautiful to see. This is the worst that Evan is going to be and it’s not too shabby. He’s an All-Star. He will be in San Francisco in February.”