NBA Scout Questions Evan Mobley's Offensive Growth With Cavaliers

Evan Mobley shot 29.7% from 3-point range last season. In Sports Illustrated's Friday Cavaliers preview, an anonymous NBA scout said that shot is the part of Mobley's game that has not come along.

Tom Dierberger wrote the preview as part of SI's team-by-team scout series ahead of 2026-27.

Mobley won 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year while also earning All-Star and second-team All-NBA honors and a top-10 MVP finish. He averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists that season, making 37.0% of his 3.2 3-point attempts per game.

In 65 games last season, including 63 starts, Mobley averaged 18.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks, with the assist and block marks both career highs. His 9.0 rebounds per game ranked ninth in the league. He shot 54.6% from the field and 60.6% from the free-throw line, going 62-of-209 from three.

In December, a Grade 1 strain of his left calf cost him five games. He strained it again in late January, in a win over Orlando. That night he blocked his 500th career shot. He was 24, the youngest Cavalier to get there.

Mobley did not get a single award vote last season. His 65 games were the league minimum for eligibility.

"I thought Mobley was going to break out two years ago when he won Defensive Player of the Year," the scout said. "But he really hasn't grown since that point. He's taken a little bit of a step backwards offensively. I thought he would've developed in more areas of his game. I always felt like he had to really get the three down in order to take another step. He has not."

Mobley averaged 17.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks over 18 playoff games. He had 19 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a 117-113 overtime win at Detroit in Game 5 on May 13, then posted 21 points and 12 rebounds in the 125-94 Game 7 win there May 17.

In the Game 4 loss that ended the Knicks' sweep, he finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Cleveland drafted Mobley third overall in 2021 out of USC. He made the All-Defensive First Team in 2023 and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Arthroscopic knee surgery in December 2023 held him to 50 games that season. That left him ineligible for awards.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said at his introductory news conference in 2024 that making Mobley a more complete offensive threat was one of his priorities.

In July 2024, Mobley agreed to a five-year, $224 million maximum rookie extension that could reach $269 million with incentives. He was the fourth member of the 2021 draft class to receive a max extension, after Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, and Franz Wagner.

When the team announced the deal, Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman said Cleveland had "only scratched the surface of his overall potential."

ESPN ranked the Cavaliers fourth in player talent in its future power rankings last month.

Mobley turned 25 on June 18. The extension runs through the 2029-30 season.