Cavaliers' Championship Hopes Hinge On This Massive Factor

The Cleveland Cavaliers could be NBA championship contenders if this one thing occurs this season.

Oct 16, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) gets ready to shoot a foul shot against the Detroit Pistons in the first quarter at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not generally viewed as championship contenders heading into the 2024-25 NBA season, but they could be a sleeper team that could crash the Eastern Conference party.

Of course, a lot of things will have to go right for the Cavaliers—and possibly wrong for other teams—in order for them to make a legitimate finals push.

But Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes has identified one massive X-factor that could swing Cleveland's title chances: Evan Mobley.

"If Mobley's growth stagnates at his current level, Cleveland will still be a 50-win team," Mobley said. "But it'll be difficult to escape second-tier contender status. If he makes a leap, the Cavs could secure the East's top seed and position themselves to reach the Finals."

Make no mistake: Mobley is a good player, but his development did stagnate last season, particularly on the offensive end of the floor.

After averaging 16.2 points per game during his sophomore campaign in 2022-23, Mobley dipped to 15.7 points a night last year, although his efficiency was better (he had a true-shooting percentage of 62.6 percent).

The main area in which Mobley needs to improve offensively is three-point shooting. The former No. 3 overall pick did make 37.3 percent of his triples last season, but he achieved it on incredibly low volume (1.2 attempts per game).

If Mobley is able to start consistently burying threes, it will not only expand his own offensive repertoire, but it will open up the rest of the floor for Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland the rest of the Cavaliers' scorers.

And if Mobley does, in fact, show significant offensive improvement this year, Cleveland could represent a legitimate contender.