Evan Mobley feels like he’s at a real crossroads for Cleveland, and that’s what makes this coming season so important. He’s already an all-star-caliber big man, but the Cavaliers’ ceiling still runs through him. If this team is going to push past the heavy hitters in the Eastern Conference, Mobley has to take on more of the offense than he does right now.
The obvious place to look is his perimeter game, because that’s where the letdown came last season. Mobley shot just 29.7% from three in 2025-26, his lowest mark since 2022-23.
That drop stung even more because he had just put together two straight seasons at 37.0% or better. For a stretch, it looked like he was turning into a real floor spacer.
Instead, he backed up.
The catch-and-shoot numbers were even less encouraging. Mobley hit only 31.7% of those looks and finished in the 15th percentile in catch-and-shoot 3PT Shot Making Efficiency. In other words, that part of his game just didn’t give Cleveland much.
He did lean a little more on the midrange, connecting on 22 of 49 attempts, which works out to 44.9%. But he still isn’t someone defenses fear there. And while a dependable face-up game would be a massive leap - the kind that could bump him from fringe all-star to top 15 player - that route comes with a problem: he would need enough touches to really grow into it.
That’s why the cleaner answer might be something else entirely. High-post facilitation.
Mobley already flashes as a short-roll passer, and he makes the right reads when the ball is moving. That showed up in 2025-26, when he posted a career-high 3.6 assists, and he has averaged at least 3.2 per game over the last three seasons. He’s not Nikola Jokic as a passer, but he’s clearly better than his raw numbers might suggest.
There’s a path where Cleveland uses him as more of an offensive hub from the high post or elbow and gets 4-6 assists a night out of it. With Peyton Watson now in the mix, that idea gets even more interesting, because a cutter like that gives Mobley another easy outlet.
It would also demand more movement away from the ball, especially from the guards, and that’s not simple when Donovan Mitchell and James Harden haven’t been great off the ball. Still, there may not be a better time to push for that shift.
New York got real mileage out of Karl-Anthony Towns in that kind of role. Cleveland has every reason to think Mobley can do the same.
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Cavs Face An Early Roster Decision That Could Shape Flexibility
The Cavaliers are already staring at one of those quiet roster deadlines that can matter just as much as a splashy move. Mario Hezonja and Craig Porter Jr. each have upcoming guarantee dates on their deals, giving Cleveland a built-in window to decide whether to keep both players locked in for the season or use the opening to preserve flexibility as the year unfolds.
Hezonjas date arrives in mid-November, creating an early fork in the road for a front office that tends to keep an eye on every bit of roster and salary-cap maneuvering. Porters guarantee date comes later in January, which gives the Cavs a little more time to weigh the picture, but also means the decisions around both players could linger as Cleveland tries to balance present depth with future flexibility. [Read more 🡒]