Early returns from the 2021 NBA Draft suggest that he has a chance to be one of the best the league has ever seen. To stand out in such a crowd, you have to be nothing but special.
Cavaliers’ big man Evan Mobley is special, earning him the Sporting News rookie of the year, according to a vote by more than a dozen members of our Global NBA team at the end of the regular season.
Elected third overall in 2021, Mobley quickly made his presence in Cleveland, making his role to lead the franchise to a record 44-38 with an average of 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1, 7 blockades per match.
MORE: Nikola Jokic’s MVP case without extended statistics: Why he is SN’s NBA Player of the Year
Before Mobley, only seven rookies in the NBA’s 75-year history had an average of 15 or more points, eight or more rebounds, two or more assists and more than 1.5 blocks per game.
All but two were named NBA rookie of the year.
It remains to be seen whether Mobley will win the NBA’s honor or not, but if SN’s voice is an indication, it will be a tough battle between him and Raptors rookie Scotty Barnes.
For complete transparency of the vote, Barnes won seven votes in first place against Mobley’s six, but Mobley overtook Barnes by two points in the final. The reason? Barnes, who finished second in the SN vote, won one vote in third place, while no voter placed Mobley lower than second.
This turned out to be the difference between a draw and Mobley’s exact victory.
As the voter who put Barnes first, there really is no wrong answer, but that’s why Mobley is a worthy choice for Rookie of the Year.
The catalyst
When Cleveland chose Mobley in third place, many thought it could end Jarrett Allen’s time with the franchise. When Cavs re-signed Allen with a free agency, questions began to be asked about the complex combination of two traditional great men in the modern game.
It didn’t take long for Mobley to show that he was far from a traditional big man.
In his NBA debut, the 7-foot Mobley started in the front with 6-foot Allen and his 7-foot teammate Lauri Markanen. The Cavs, ironically, proved short, but Mobley finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists, proving that this new twist on the traditional approach could just work.
Mobley’s 2.5 assists per game may not bounce off the page, but his playmake will.
The big man finds the big man.
📱: pic.twitter.com/Ab0KeSX0qt
– Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) November 1, 2021
Mobley’s ability to find his colleagues from the big position or from the break is the key to Cleveland’s ability to break away from the norm, which in turn led to the team’s success.
You really don’t see 7-feet doing this too often.
GREAT BREAK! #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/Vfcfzk6llI
– Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) March 9, 2022
Mix Mobley’s desire as a passer with his instincts as a goal scorer and you will get the modern big man who does things that we thought were unusual for a 7-foot.
This turn of Evan Mobley is amazing!
He has up 14 points in the first quarter of the NBA League Pass!
Watch here: pic.twitter.com/h5digrYCzg
– NBA (@NBA) December 31, 2021
The defender
What Mobley has to do with some 7-feet is his ability to bounce and defend the rim.
Make it a dozen for @evanmobley’s winning streak!
He is the first Cavs rookie since Big Z to record a block in 12 consecutive games and multiple blocks in 7 consecutive games. # LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/AwbpAtQ341
– Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 4, 2021
In addition to his 8.3 fights that led the entire rookie class, 1.7 blocks of Mobley in the game rank first among all rookies and sixth among all players in the league – only Jaren Jackson Jr., Robert Williams III, Rudy Robert , Mitchell Robinson and Jacob Poeltl is on average more.
This is pretty good company for a 20 year old.
That said, there’s more to being a solid rim protector than blocking bumps, and there’s more internal protection than rim protection.
Mobley also covered that.
Mobley’s 849 contested shots in 69 games ranked fourth in the league after Gober (862), Nikola Jokic (901) and Pölt (964). Again, an elite rookie company that is still learning the NBA game.
As a defender making a difference in Year 1, just imagine how big a catalyst Mobley will be in a few years.
The winner
Above all, the biggest conclusion of Mobley’s season should be his impact on victory.
The last time the Cavaliers had a winning season that did not include LeBron James was in 1998, three years before Mobley was born. This season, Cleveland finished six games over .500, but was even better (40-29) in the 69 games that Mobley costumed.
Without him? The Cavs were 4-9 (.308), although it’s worth noting that Mobley and Allen were eliminated at the same time at the end of the season.
While some rookies find themselves in situations where victories come first, Mobley is in the rare top 5 to play meaningful matches after the season.
For a franchise like Cleveland, which seeks to recover for continued success, Mobley is the piece that has accelerated the franchise’s progress by standing out from the crowd.
This brought him the rookie of the year of SN.
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