From a distance, Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be fine. For the most part, that should be true until comfortably proven otherwise. However, the cracks in the armor are there, and they are starting to stare everyone in the face.
It truly has never been so clear how much the Cavaliers are dependent on a healthy Darius Garland to be the ceiling raiser, stabilizer, and championship engine. Cleveland's offense just has not featured the same kind of juice this season without Garland supporting the group.
Mobley is a great example of the overall struggles the Cavaliers have endured thus far. His individual numbers tell the story of the bigger picture in Cleveland on the offensive end.
Inefficiency has plagued Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers
Kenny Atkinson's first season with the Cavaliers in 2024-25 ended with a Coach of the Year award in his lap. A 64-win campaign was fueled by an elite offense that dominated the NBA during the regular season.
The Cavaliers ranked first in the NBA during 2024-25 when it came to offensive rating. Their mark of 121.0 beat out the Boston Celtics (119.5) and Oklahoma City Thunder (119.2) for the top spot.
When Garland returned, the hope was that the Cavaliers could get much closer to that type of production. Unfortunately for Cleveland, it only took three games for the star point guard to hit the shelf again.
With Garland's troubling health, Ty Jerome departing in the offseason, and Max Strus yet to make his season debut, Mobley was always going to be asked to do more for the offense. The Cavaliers big man knew that, and was ready for it. The results just have not been where they need to be yet.
Mobley is averaging career highs in points per game (18.8) and assists per game (4.0). That part looks good. However, the Cavaliers star is also struggling with his efficiency, registering only a 55.5 true shooting percentage and averaging 2.7 turnovers per game.
Allowing their young star some wiggle room to grow and experiment was always necessary and expected for the Cavaliers. Perhaps the only gripe to have with that is questioning why this was not done sooner so Mobley could be further along offensively by now.
The struggles have been felt all over the roster. The Cavaliers rank 13th in offensive rating (116.2), 14th in effective field goal percentage (54.4), and 19th in true shooting percentage (57.9).
The Cavaliers still sit in a relatively comfortable position in the Eastern Conference early on. Eventually, they will need to see some kind of progress from their shortcomings to remain in that type of spot.