The Cleveland Cavaliers boast an excellent core group of players, including Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. While Mitchell is universally regarded as the best player on this team, Mobley is making a strong case to surpass his talent soon.
Mobley’s career so far suggests that he will be not only one of the best Cavaliers of all time, but one of the best NBA players of all time. Here’s why Mobley will be an all-time great, including a look at his development, how he compares to Cleveland’s record books, and where his numbers stand among the best.
Mobley’s Early Career
Despite being the third overall pick in 2021 and the runner-up to the Rookie of the Year Award, Mobley has proved to be the best player from this draft. In his rookie season, he averaged a solid 15 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 50.8 percent.
While Mobley has now improved to being an 18.5 point, 9.3 rebound, and 3.2 assist per game player, the biggest area of growth is his shot. He finished last season with a 55.7 field goal percentage, marking an increase of over a percentage point each season.
What’s allowed Mobley’s game to own up, however, is the development of his deep ball. While he shot 25.0 percent from three in his rookie season on 1.3 attempts, this year he had a 37.0 three-point percentage on 3.2 attempts.
Improving in almost every single aspect in each season, the way Mobley is doesn’t happen often, and typically is only seen among uniquely skilled players. This kind of growth is extremely promising, especially when considering the focus he’s now placing on his handle.
Despite growing as a player at a rapid rate, Mobley is still only four years into his career. How, then, does he fare when compared to Cleveland’s past?
Cavaliers Comparison
Within the Cavaliers’ organization, Mobley is already setting himself apart as one of the best. Most notably, he just became the first player in Cleveland’s history to be awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Mobley is currently second in career effective field goal percentage, third in field goal percentage, fourth in block percentage, fifth in true shooting percentage, and sixth in blocks per game for the franchise. Although he’s not leading in any single stat, he’s one of the few players whose names are repeatedly peppered throughout the Cavaliers’ record books.
Considering a lot of his statistical peers played for the team much longer than Mobley’s four seasons, he’s primed to take an even greater hold on these records. Cleveland hasn’t exactly been the most illustrious franchise, though, so how do his accomplishments stack up against the all-time greats?
All-Time Perspective
When it comes to the history of the NBA, there aren’t many players who have done what Mobley has at his age. Last season was the 27th time the player who won Defensive Player of the Year was also named to an All-NBA team, and he’s tied for the youngest player to do so at 23.
The other guys who have been named Defensive Player of the Year at 23 include Alvin Robinson (1985-86), Dwight Howard (2008-09), Kawhi Leonard (2014-15), and Jaren Jackson Jr (2022-23). Robinson and Howard, along with Mobley, are the only ones who were also named to an All-NBA team in the same season.
While Howard is in the hall of fame, and Leonard is a future hall-of-famer, Robinson isn’t, but has some notable accomplishments. He’s one of only four players to have ever recorded a quadruple-double (being the only guard to do so), and is also the only player to accrue at least 300 steals in a single season.
All of the players whose accolades lined up this way, aside from Mobley and Jackson Jr, who are still young, went on to have stellar careers. Not that this specifically ensures Mobley will be successful, but rather, only particularly successful players have been able to achieve this at such a young age.
Some of the other players who were able to win Defensive Player of the Year and be named All-NBA in the same season (at an older age) include Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The group of players who are doing what Mobley is doing is few and far between, and almost all of them have ended up being some of the best players to ever play in the league.
End Of My Cavaliers Mobley Rant
Mobley is performing at a level that very few ever have at his age, and the ones who did went on to have all-time great careers. He’s already established himself in Cleveland’s franchise record books and is primed to be not only one of the best players in Cavaliers’ history, but one of the all-time greats of the NBA.
