Cleveland Cavaliers Star Fires Bold Warning to NBA

This Cleveland Cavaliers star has put the rest of the NBA on notice as he continues to grow.

Dec 20, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) celebrates with forward Evan Mobley (4) during the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers own the best record in basketball through the first two months of the 2024-25 NBA campaign, and a big reason for that has been the play of Evan Mobley.

Mobley is averaging 18.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, three assists and 1.4 blocks over 30.4 minutes per game on 57.4/43.7/77.5 shooting splits this season.

Most recently, the star forward dropped 26 points in a 149-135 win over the Denver Nuggets, burying four three-pointers in the contest.

Mobley has attempted 71 three-pointers this year, and all but seven of them have been classified as "open" looks.

That prompted Mobley to fire off a rather bold warning to the rest of the NBA.

"Don't leave me open," Mobley said, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Perimeter shooting was considered one of the Cavaliers' primary bugaboos heading into the season, and much of that had to do with their lack of floor spacing up front.

Heck, some felt that Cleveland should break up the frontcourt tandem of Mobley and Jarrett Allen due to the fact that neither player was a truly reliable threat from deep.

But it appears that Mobley is becoming just that, as he has already achieved a career high in three-point makes (31) just 29 games into the season.

The Cavs signed the 23-year-old to a massive contract extension over the summer, and thus far, it is paying significant dividends.

In addition to his solid counting numbers, Mobley boasts a career-best true-shooting percentage of 64.9 percent and is registering .213 win shares per 48 minutes, also a lifetime high.

We'll see if the former No. 3 overall pick can continue his hot shooting as the season progresses.