Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley received a massive prediction from an NBA writer. 

 When someone mentions the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell is usually the first player that comes to mind.

Mitchell is a six-time All-Star who scored 71 points against the Chicago Bulls during the 2022-23 season. The shooting guard is universally recognized as the Cavaliers' best player. 

However, in three years, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report believes that title will belong to Evan Mobley. 

"Even if Mitchell is still on the roster in three years, Mobley will have long since surpassed him as the Cavaliers' alpha," Hughes wrote. "In fact, there's a case to be made that that's already happened."

Mobley played in 71 games last season. The USC product averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.6 blocks while shooting 55.7% from the field, 37.0% from beyond the arc and 72.5% from the free-throw line.

Mobley, 24, is one of the best young players in the NBA. He won the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year Award, made the All-NBA Second Team and played in his first All-Star Game. 

By winning Defensive Player of the Year last season, Mobley triggered a clause in his contract that calls for him to increase the first-year salary of his rookie-scale extension from 25% to 30% of the salary cap.

“We’re going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go,” Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman said during his end-of-the-season press conference. “And we’ve had that conversation with Evan. In the playoffs, we need more. We need more than 13 field goal attempts per game — that’s new for Evan. There’s another jump. 

“And so to that point, Kenny’s going to be able to implement his offseason program, which we’re very excited about. And we’re going to see some internal growth there, and we think we have one of the best big men in the game in Evan Mobley.”

Mobley will enter next season with career averages of 16.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.6 blocks. The big man will have to score the ball more than usual to begin 2025-26 since Darius Garland won't play. The point guard is recovering from offseason foot surgery.