Evan Mobley landed at No. 5 on FanSided's 25-under-25 NBA Player Rankings this season, ranking the best young players in the NBA. Check out the rest of the list here.
Evan Mobley is the quintessential modern-day big man. He can protect the rim, switch onto the perimeter, score inside, playmake, and space the floor. Last season was somewhat of a breakout year for Mobley, where he averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.5 stocks (steal plus blocks) with 55.7/37/72.5 shooting splits. Following Victor Wembanyama's blood clot ailment, Mobley emerged as the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year and ended up winning the award.
Undoubtedly, Mobley was an essential part of the Cleveland Cavaliers' winning 64 games. In fact, some would even argue that he was more valuable than Donovan Mitchell, given his immense defensive value. I wouldn't go this far, since Mitchell was the Cavs' offensive engine. But still, the gap has never been closer. Both players notably finished in the top 10 in MVP voting, with Mitchell earning fifth-place honors and Mobley 10th.
Mobley's incredible 2024-25 season helped him earn a top-five spot in our 25-under-25 rankings. Entering his age-24 season, Mobley is only bound to level up again.
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Evan Mobley's stellar 2024-25 campaign
Another key part of Mobley's season that has to be mentioned is that he maintained his production in the playoffs. Despite the Cavs losing in the first-round, Mobley averaged 17.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.1 stocks with 58.6/45.2/84 shooting splits. Mobley, continuing his impressive play in the playoffs, certainly helped him in these rankings.
The USC product's two-way truly makes him special, though. We previously went over what makes Mobley a perfect modern-day big. However, we were just scratching the surface.
Defensively, Mobley held opponents to 44.5 shooting from the field, including 54.4 percent from within six feet of the rim, which is a notable difference from the league average of 63 percent. Mobley deterred shots at an elite level, per Cleaning the Glass; opponents shot 3.3 percent fewer shots at the rim with him on the court, which ranked in the 89th percentile.
Mobley guarded opposing guards, forwards, and centers at least 25 percent of the time last season. It's not exactly breaking news to say that last year's DPOY is a dominant defender. However, his blend of rim protection and versatility is more impressive than some people acknowledge. When it's all said and done, Mobley could be remembered as the second-best defender of this decade.
His defense has always been elite, but Mobley's offensive growth is what truly made last season special. Mobley's 18.5 points per game were a 2.8 jump from the previous year. A massive part of this leap was Mobley's growth as a 3-point shooter. While he netted 37.3 percent of his triples the year before, Mobley's jump from 1.2 3s per game to 3.2 made this leap real.
He also grew a ton as a self-creator; 31.7 percent of his made field goals were unassisted, which was over a five percent jump. Mobley's plus-6.1 net on-off difference was the highest among all Cavs starters.
Evan Mobley year-4 scoring OTD pic.twitter.com/BXyZKY4uPc
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) February 22, 2025
The opportunity for Mobley to rise even more
Like nearly every 25-and-under player, Mobley has a real chance to level up this season. It's possible the Cavs empower him even more as an on-ball creator and offensive hub, especially with Darius Garland being sidelined to start the season. Last year, Mobley's usage rate increased from 20.6 to 23.2 percent, and we may see a similar bump.
The Cavs were at their best when Mobley was empowered offensively. Notably, Cleveland posted a 19-1 record in Mobley's 20 highest usage games. Given this and the fact that Mobley will likely naturally progress in his fifth season, I'm expecting Mobley to take on an even bigger role offensively.
Traditional counting stats aren't the end-all, be-all, but I could imagine Mobley something like 20-10-5 with this increased role. Even without a jump, Mobley feels likely to earn an All-NBA and All-Defensive first-team spot again. However, if he levels up again on offense and the Cavs remain a dominant team, Mobley could be knocking on the door of first-team All-NBA talks.
Mobley making another jump could also make the Cavs a more difficult team to match up with in the playoffs. Undoubtedly, Mobley has a real chance to be a central part of a championship team. He's already a top-20 level player in the NBA, and it's not far-fetched to think that he could be a legit top-10 level player after this season. Not many 24-year-old stars can say that. Overall, few players can match Mobley's two-way impact, and he is clearly one of the brightest young stars in the league.