Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley Receives Troubling Take From Analyst

The Cleveland Cavaliers are betting on Evan Mobley moving forward, but one analyst has some reservations about the Cavaliers' decision.

Apr 14, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) dribbles against Charlotte Hornets center Marques Bolden (3) in the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers apparently saw enough of Evan Mobley to entrust him as a significant part of their future, handing him a massive five-year, $224 million contract extension this summer.

It will keep Mobley in Cleveland through 2030, and the Cavaliers are obviously hoping that the big man will show marked improvement over the course of the next several years.

However, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus is not so confident Cleveland made the right move. At least from a monetary perspective.

Pincus gave the Cavs a B-minus grade for the Mobley extension, questioning whether or not the former No. 3 overall pick was actually worth a max deal.

"Unless Mobley develops into the next Anthony Davis, it's a bit of an aggressive number," Pincus wrote.

Setting the bar at Davis seems a bit unfair, given that Davis is almost certainly a future Hall-of-Famer and remains one of the best players in basketball today.

That being said, there are unquestionably some concerns about Mobley's game moving forward, particularly on the offensive end.

Many wondered if the frontcourt pairing of Mobley and Jarrett Allen was advisable for the Cavaliers, as neither big man spaces the floor all that well. Allen doesn't do it at all, and Mobley has not been able to do it consistently.

To be fair, Mobley did show signs of extending his range last season, making 37.3 percent of his three-pointers. However, he did that on very low volume, attempting just 1.2 triples per game.

Mobley also saw his scoring average dip last year, as he averaged 15.7 points per game compared to 16.2 points a night the preceding campaign.

No one doubts Mobley's ability on the defensive side of the ball. After all, he made First-Team All-Defense in 2022-23. But if he is unable to expand his offensive repertoire, it may stunt Cleveland's development, and it may result in Mobley's $45 million AAV to look a bit inflated.