[Official] Evan Mobley as a Cleveland Cavaliers thread

https://theathletic.com/3095901/202...cavaliers-are-a-team-to-be-feared-across-nba/

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Cleveland is fourth in the league with a net rating of 5.1. Why does that matter? The past 10 NBA champions all ranked in the top five in net rating, which right now is the Warriors, Suns, Jazz, Cavs and Heat.

I like net rating because it standardizes a lot of factors into one digestible number: the difference between points a team scored and allowed per 100 possessions. It turns oranges into apples to make for even comparisons.

Now, no one is ready to declare the Cavs champions this season, but it certainly validates the leap we’re all witnessing.

The Cavs’ championship team in 2015-16 had a net rating of 6.3. This team isn’t far off that pace. Put another way, the Cavs were minus-8.3 last season in net rating, making their 13.4-point swing the largest year-over-year leap I could find over the past decade.

It’s larger than the Warriors’ when their dynasty emerged in 2015, larger than the Cavs’ in LeBron James’ first year back, larger than even the Heat’s when James and Chris Bosh went to Miami. No other team I could find made this type of dramatic transformation in net rating from one season to the next.

This sort of turnaround rarely happens in the NBA, at least not without mitigating circumstances such as a superstar changing teams. I wrote before the season that a leap to around 36 wins this season would be fairly dramatic and cause for celebration. The Cavs might surpass that by the All-Star break.

“They have no fear,” Bickerstaff said.

Nor should they. The Cavs have beaten every top contender in the East. They’re 5-4 against the Heat, Bulls, Bucks and Nets. They’re doing it despite losing Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio to season-ending injuries. They’re doing it without Lauri Markkanen, who could miss two to four weeks with an ankle injury. They’re doing it because Bickerstaff believes so strongly in his three-big-man lineup that he refuses to waver from it regardless of personnel losses — he started Dean Wade again in place of Markkanen against the Bucks.

The Cavs will go as far as Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen take them. That nucleus gives them the makings of a grass-roots big three. Though the draft selections of Garland and Mobley are attributed to good scouting, players such as Wade and Lamar Stevens are a testament to scouting and development.

Wade and Stevens were undrafted, ignored leftovers. The Cavs gave both a chance and developed them into important role players. Finding misfit leftovers and turning them into useful parts has gotten a little easier over the past few years, but it’s still an incredibly difficult challenge and something only the very best franchises seem to do well.

Miami is excellent at it. Same with the Toronto Raptors. Outside of Matthew Dellavedova, the Cavs have never really been able to unlock fringe talent and turn it into helpful components.

It’s an eye for talent, certainly, but it’s also an organization-wide commitment to playing youngsters even when it looks awful. It’s a commitment from coaches willing to stay late and work with prospects who might never make an impact or even a roster. That was Wade and Stevens a few years ago. Now, Wade is making four 3s against the defending champs and allowing the Cavs to stick with a versatile defensive identity that continues to give opponents fits.



Garland is crafty enough to flip no-look passes that make the home crowd swoon. Allen is nimble enough to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo in brief stretches, and Mobley is versatile enough to bring it all together. He has the potential to evolve into a legitimate star on a championship contender, and his selection in the draft last year changed the trajectory of the franchise for the next decade.

Koby Altman has to be the favorite for executive of the year, an award no Cavs general manager has won since Wayne Embry in 1998. Bickerstaff will receive heavy consideration alongside Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins for coach of the year, and Mobley is the runaway favorite at this point for rookie of the year.

The Cavs did it. They certainly made mistakes along the way, but they got back here faster than I ever thought possible. Four years after LeBron left (again), the Cavs are contenders (again) in the Eastern Conference.

They play hard and they play for one another. There is no silly Kyrie Irving/Dion Waiters battle to be the alpha dog. The Cavaliers are young enough that they don’t know what they don’t know and yet are still good enough to outwork and outplay the league’s elite.

Bickerstaff is right. They certainly have nothing to fear.

They are the danger.

 

Cavs ceiling is 2022 Champions if injuries hit like they did last year.

I think this is GARM thread worthy:
Brian Windhorst casually said the Rockets didn’t consider Mobley pre-draft. (EDIT: on most recent Bill Simmons Podcast, Jan 27th episode)

The fact that an NBA front office can ignore and dismiss a prospect of Mobley’s caliber is disgusting. This is a $4 billion worldwide brand of a franchise, and it’s being run by a restaurant & casino manager with Beaufort T. Justice Jr. coaching the team.

 

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/01/28/nba-rookie-rankings-evan-mobley-cavaliers

The Crossover spoke with the 20-year-old about his transition to the NBA, the surging Cavaliers and more.

Sports Illustrated: You’ve made a smooth adjustment to the professional game after just one season at USC. Why do you think your game has translated so well?

Evan Mobley: I feel like my skill set and my talent really translates to how the game is played at this level. It was more about getting used to the certain little things with how the game is played. After I got used to that I feel like things came naturally. It was a smooth transition.

SI: What do you enjoy about playing alongside Jarrett Allen in these double-big lineups? Why do you think the pairing works so well?

EM: A lot of teams aren’t seeing that look. When they drive into the paint they usually aren’t seeing two or three 7-footers coming in to block their shot. So it definitely makes it tough on teams to score. It takes away things a lot of teams do relatively easily.

SI: When you take a long-term view of your future in Cleveland, what makes you confident this team can have sustained success?

EM: Well, we’re all pretty young, for one thing. We all get along, we support each other. I can see us getting better and better every year and growing together as much as we can.

SI: What part of the game has provided the biggest learning curve for you?

EM: Probably the schedule and how many games you play, to be honest. It’s a lot different in college where you’re playing way less games. But it’s all right. You’ve got to be resilient, got to take care of your body. I get treatment, I keep lifting. There’s a lot of things I do to maintain myself.

SI: Are there any current or former players you molded your game after?

EM: My favorite player growing up was Kevin Durant. I also like Giannis [Antetokounmpo] a lot, too. I definitely take bits and pieces from different players like Anthony Davis and Kevin Garnett. I’m my own player still, but I take things I can learn from them when I can.

SI: There was a little back-and-forth between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green regarding who should have been the No. 1 pick. Do you feel any competition with your fellow rookies?

EM: No, not really. I’m just trying to be the best player I can be. I don’t try to focus on anyone else. I just focus on what I can do and what I need to do to help our team be successful.

SI: So you’re not laying claim to Rookie of the Year just yet?

EM: Nope. I’m good on that for now.

 

Dang! I wanted Mobley smh

 

Most people here, including myself, wanted Mobley over Green. But even I am amazed at just how good he is.

At this rate, even if Green makes 3-4 all star games, he'll still be living in the shadow of Evan Mobley.

 

The Mobley Mob was in the minority in the GARM. Even now you will get shouted down for saying you think Mobley is the best player in the draft like you are anti-Rockets, all for wishing the Rockets had drafted the better player. Oh well, that ship has sailed and we can all hope JG will develop but Mobley has unicorn potential.

 

Why lowkey? The morons in here defending the org need to be called out.

 

Nah, most posters here are morons, and they massive unwarranted support Green got is testament to that.

 

Tilman being the owner will eventually sink in for people at some point.

The Rockets are doomed in all honesty.

 

Undercover agent and under the covers with Cleveland.

 

This is actually being a sad state.

People have nothing much to live for than a rookie with a tad potential but nothing more.

 

To put this is perspective, the two best rookies Rondo played with before are Olynyk and Smart. He was never on a team with very good rookies.

 

Green was already a professional athlete showing great athleticism/talent. Maybe the G League Ignite prospects won't be so highly valued in the future, but there's nothing moronic about valuing Green over Mobley in the draft. Hindsight is 20/20 and of course we'd all take Mobley now.

Morey taking Morris over Leonard was also the correct move based on what we had seen thus far, imo. The Morris twins were studs at Kansas. (Funny that they're now teammates on the Clippers)

 

Agree. Taking either "side" of internet basketball arguments seriously is definitely a sad state. LOL. But 2020's, amiright?

 

A young Ralph Sampson.

Dude really is unique - so smooth.

DD