Evan Mobley is coming off a breakout season, and Koby Altman believes he’s ready to take the leap into becoming a top-five player in the NBA.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have very high expectations as a team this year. Cleveland has its deepest and best roster since the last LeBron era and is poised to take advantage of the weakened Eastern Conference, which will be without Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.
Expectations aren’t just high for team success but also for players individually. Evan Mobley had a breakthrough season last year, finishing 10th in MVP voting and winning the Defensive Player of the Year award, in addition to his best year as a scorer as a professional, averaging 18.5 points per game.
Despite having a career season in just his fourth year as a pro, it’s clear that Mobley and the front office still have their sights set on him reaching even higher heights. Yesterday, at the Cavs’ preseason media availability, Koby Altman had this to say about Mobley: “He’s been locked in. He’s really serious about taking that leap to being a top-five player in this league.”
The improvement of Mobley and how necessary it was to take a step forward was a large talking point last offseason, as the Cavs needed him to come into his own if they wanted to start making serious advancements as a championship contender. Mobley did that in spades last season.
If Mobley is taking that same mindset into this season, but only cranking it up a couple more notches, it could get very scary for the rest of the NBA. Evan already made the three-pointer more of a weapon in his game last year, hitting 60 more than in any previous season, but he’s already playing at a league-best level on defense and affecting winning at a higher rate than almost anyone in the league.
Mobley’s teamwork rating last year measured how much his presence created a positive margin for his team compared to other players in the league. He ranked in the 98th percentile, making him part of the NBA’s elite when it comes to improving his team’s performance on the court.
The next big step for Evan will be to consistently dominate on offense to make that leap into the top five. Evan will need to be averaging between 22–25 points per game while becoming more of a focal point in the Cavs’ offense by creating his own shots. This is something he’s very capable of, as long as he’s taking enough shots.
Mobley ranks higher than 88% of players in effective field goal percentage and higher than 91% of players in true shooting percentage.
He’s as efficient as it gets on offense and the absolute best the league has to offer on defense. If Evan has his eyes set on being a top-five player in the NBA, I feel bad for anyone standing in his way.
