25-under-25: Maybe Evan Mobley is already there

A common refrain around NBA circles is the idea of a "leap." When players are young, their skills develop at different paces. It might take a player two years to become an elite passer in the NBA but seven years to become an average shooter. When a player takes the "leap," it's implied that all of his skills showed rapid signs of development simultaneously, boosting him from a good player to a great player. The things he showed signs of early in his career — high-level shooting, shot blocking, drawing fouls, whatever — all turn into skills he utilizes on a daily basis. Talented players are often expected to take multiple "leaps" throughout their careers.

Evan Mobley is a world-class talent. The 6-foot-11, former USC Trojan was drafted third overall by the Cavaliers in 2021 because of his two-way potential. Great defensive instincts and graceful lateral movement met a tantalizing offensive skill set. Mobley's vision, his above-average handle and his coordination all looked like they'd translate to the NBA flawlessly.

A few years down the line, heading into year four, Evan Mobley has made an All-Defense team, improved his outside shooting considerably and become much more comfortable making plays for himself and his teammates. But since all those things didn't happen at once, fans still clamor for a "leap." It seems unfair to ask the 23-year-old who has already established himself as an elite defensive anchor to just kind of get better at everything all at once. Maybe we need to rethink how we view player development. While taking a "leap" is great, Mobley is showing that taking multiple long strides can be just as effective in reaching a destination.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy.

Evan Mobley needs to be a reliable anchor

You know what Evan Mobley is going to provide on a nightly basis, especially on the defensive end. He moves so well that he can stay with smaller defenders, and he recovers so well thanks to his 7-foot-4 wingspan that even if he does get beat off the dribble, he can recover as well as anyone in the league. His raw defensive numbers don't jump off the page — he averages 1.5 blocks and 8.8 rebounds for his career — but those numbers undersell how impactful Mobley is as a paint protector and team defender on a Cavs team that finished with the seventh-best defensive rating in the league last season.

Offensively, Mobley is starting to get the "Anthony Davis" treatment, which means pundits want him to score 30 points a game. It makes sense to ask Mobley to be more assertive on offense on a nightly basis — he is frighteningly versatile and could be more dominant with the ball in his hands — but those arguments often fully discount what he does on the defensive end.

The 3-pointer appears to be turning into a real weapon that Mobley can wield. In 2023-24, he shot a career-best 37.3 percent from deep. Granted, his volume remains low, but he looked more comfortable hoisting up 3s as the year progressed, and it will be worth monitoring whether that volume increases significantly in 2025 and beyond.

He missed some time in 2023-24, playing just 50 games, but it was by far his most efficient season yet. He averaged 15.7 points on a career-best 62.6 true shooting percentage, a considerable improvement from the 54.9 true shooting percentage of his rookie year. The "leaps" are there if you look hard enough.

Making a difference on the biggest stage

In the 2024 NBA Playoffs, we were introduced to "Playoff Mobley" and it was a whole lot of fun. In Cleveland's first-round series against Orlando, Mobley showed why he received multiple DPOY votes when he was just 21 years old. He decided that the paint was his home and refused any and all invaders into that home, blocking 21 shots in the series and helping the Cavs completely stifle Orlando's offense for seven games.

Mobley's signature moment came during the waning seconds of a pretty massive Game 5 while the series was tied 2-2. Orlando's Franz Wagner — who is a 6-foot-8 forward, by the way — made a move toward the hoop with the Magic down two. Though it looked like Wagner had a clear lane to the hoop, all of that space was quickly crowded by Mobley, who recovered beautifully and swatted away Wagner's potential game-tying layup. Cavs win.

In the second round, a Donovan Mitchell-less Cavs team was thrown into the gauntlet against Boston. Although Cleveland never had a chance in this series, Mobley was exceptional. He was assertive and aggressive on offense, starting the series with two straight double-doubles and then scoring 33 points in Game 5. He was Cleveland's best player with Mitchell out of the lineup and refused to back down from the eventual NBA champs. Mobley showed all of what he can do in this series, demonstrating all of the two-way potential that made him a top-three draft pick in the first place.

Evan Mobley and the Cavs are trying to make it work

Cleveland won a playoff series last season. In an era of "championship or bust" mentality, that might not seem like much, but it was a successful season for the Cavs nonetheless, especially considering that beating Orlando marked Cleveland's first playoff series win without LeBron since 1992.

Now, running it back with the same roster, Cleveland is hoping this core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland can lead the Cavs deep in the playoffs. If we see another long stride from Mobley — that might only require an increase of three or four points per game and an extra three-point attempt — and a healthy Darius Garland, then a deep postseason run is possible for the Cavs, even in a powerful Eastern Conference.

Evan Mobley ranked No. 9 on FanSided's 2024-25 25-under-25, ranking the best young players in the NBA. Check out the rest of the list here.