Evan Mobley took an All-NBA leap last season and became the first player in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Mobley's ascension into stardom set lofty expectations for his fifth season. Cleveland's All-Star big man showed improved offensive versatility, expanding his shooting beyond the three-point line on a consistent basis and flashed shot creation talent. He ended the season with 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on solid efficiency. The sudden progression was something Cavs fans had long been waiting to see, but Mobley's early struggles in year five may hint to a bigger issue for Cleveland.
To start season five, Mobley is averaging a career high in points and assists with 19.2 and 4.2 per game, respectively. He is grabbing nine rebounds per night, roughly on par with his averages last season. Despite improved averages, Mobley's progression has stalled. With 14.6 shots attempted per game, Mobley has the worst efficiency of his career, connecting on just 46.8 percent of his shots.
Digging a bit deeper, Mobley's current box plus/minus, 2.7, is his lowest since his sophomore season. He is also seeing his fewest dunk attempts of his career with just 11.6 percent of his field goal attempts being dunks. While expanding to the arc has been a benefit for Mobley, that percentage for dunks is nearly half of last season.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson has embraced Mobley's growth, and Donovan Mitchell has sung praises for his star teammate in the midst of his inefficient start to the year.
“Development isn’t a straight shot”
Donovan Mitchell speaks on Evan Mobley’s development and why #Cavs fans need to be patient pic.twitter.com/gvnLltIs8o
— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) November 15, 2025
The Cavaliers are finally doing what they needed to do years ago, and with a rocky first few weeks to the year, the realization is hitting them hard.
The Cavaliers ignored Mobley's development and are paying the price
Before the regular season started, we noted that the Cavaliers finally needed to face some embarrassing losses to allow Mobley to grow into a real offensive leader. Those nightmare offensive nights have quickly come true as Mobley's efficiency dips to all-time lows.
Mobley is still an elite two-way player and will certainly have a bid for a second All-Star appearance. He will likely be an All-NBA and DPOY candidate once again this year. The Cavs should have no doubts about the ceiling Mobley can achieve, but his recent offensive mistakes could threaten Cleveland's Finals dreams.
First and foremost, Mobley's shot selection has been head-scratching at times. He has shown an improved post fadeaway, but his ability to back down opponents, even in mismatches, is underwhelming. The Cavs' star is showing real offensive growth gettin downhill and finishing at the rim, handling the ball on the perimeter and serving as a pick-and-pop shooter. Still, he has often tried to create baskets on his own in the post, often settling for unconvetional and poor looks.
As Mitchell pointed out, growth is not linear. NBA stars take time to develop, especially in a league that expects star bigs to be capable of scoring at all three levels and locking down a defense. Mobley's growth is nothing abnormal, but Cleveland may wish they had pushed him sooner.
Early on, the Cavs tried to hide Mobley's flaws on offense rather than face them head on. In the first three years of Mobley's career, his usage rate only increased by 0.2 percent, instead deferring to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland as the only two real offensive engines. The Cavs relegated Mobley to a dunker spot role on offense, refusing to allow him to make early mistakes in favor of future success.
Much of the problem came from Mobley's passivity on offense, but Cleveland only fully pushed him to be more assertive last season. The results were an All-NBA nod. This year, Mobley is going through the necessary growing pains, but the Cavs may already be running out of time.
The season is young, and the Cleveland Cavaliers core is equally young. Evan Mobley is a pillar of one of the bet upcoming rosters in the NBA. Even with poor offensive decisions to start his fifth season, Mitchell's words show the team's dedication to developing Mobley later rather than never. Mobley will ultimately benefit from his mistakes, but the Cavs have to hope he can learn quickly with their Finals hopes in the center of everything this season.