Cavaliers' Evan Mobley Making a Strong Early Case for NBA Rookie of the Year

Despite being the third overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Evan Mobley was still a bit of an afterthought for this year's Rookie of the Year odds.

Mobley was listed at +800 at the start of the season, behind fellow rookies Cade Cunningham (+250), Jalen Green (+275), and Jalen Suggs (+700).

Now three games in, Mobley's number is slowly beginning to creep further up the odds board at WynnBET despite remaining fourth on the list. Mobley is now up to +700, with Toronto's Scottie Barnes surpassing him at +600.

Mobley's start to the season for the Cavaliers has been eye-opening. He's averaging just under 16 points per game, 8.3 rebounds while also dishing out three assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals. The 20-year old from USC is filling up the stat sheet with ease in Cleveland.

Mobley's offensive game was heralded coming into the season, but he's also been very impressive on the defensive side of the floor. He held superstar Trae Young in their 101-95 win over the Hawks to 0-for-5 shooting from the floor, among several others.

The Hawks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago as Cleveland impressed in their first win of the season. In that game, Mobley led all Cavs players with 35:09 minutes, finishing with his first double-double of the year.

The Cavs are a 9.5-point underdog tonight on the road against the Denver Nuggets, as Nikola Jokic and company are looking for their third straight win. The total for tonight sits right at 220 on WynnBET. Our Peter Dewey made his betting pick for this evening's matchup here.