New Cavaliers Head Coach Kenny Atkinson Has Big Plans For Evan Mobley

Atkinson was introduced publicly for the first time on Monday

Atkinson Introductory Presser 01 / Spencer German

Evan Mobley enters year four of his young NBA career with some loft expectations. The Cleveland Cavaliers are expecting new head coach Kenny Atkinson to help him reach them.

The hiring of Atkinson comes with a fresh perspective on a young Cavaliers roster and, maybe more importantly, a shift in philosophy. Under J.B. Bickerstaff – who was recently named the Pistons new head coach – defense was the focus. It's no surprise Mobley has thrived on that end of the floor to this point in his career.

Atkinson's bread and butter, however, is offense, which is the phase of the game Mobley is still working to develop. Speaking at his introductory press conference on Monday, Atkinson revealed that has some big plans to unlock another element of Mobley's game.

One of the most significant comments Kenny Atkinson made at his presser today centered around how he plans on getting Evan Mobley more involved on the offensive end.

This should get #Cavs fans excited: pic.twitter.com/4qWeLF3KsZ

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"He's 22 years old so he's just naturally going to grow," said Atkinson. "But I do think we can schematically get the ball in his hands more quite honestly. And it's going to be in multiple ways I think when you have a guy that versatile, it could be him in transition bringing the ball up. It could be him handling in a five out situation or him handling and pick and roll. I think there's creative things we can do to help him. I've spoken with him, he's excited about it, but his general usage I think can go up and we have to figure out the best positions to put 'em in."

Mobley's development was a major part of the conversation during the interview process according to Atkinson. After being drafted No. 3 overall in 2021, the organization has high hopes for Mobley. That's why choosing Atkinson became such an important decision for the franchise.

There has been moderate progress made by Mobley on the offensive end of the floor to this point. Last year he shot a career high 58% from the floor in about four less minutes per game and one less shot attempt per game. He also posted a career high in three-point percentage at a clip of 37%, but it was a limited sample size as injuries kept him in and out of the lineup for long stretches of the season.

Right now much of Mobley's best offensive work is done in the key, closer to the basket. But there was at least an attempt made by Bickerstaff and company to alter his shot profile to get him attacking from the outside and in the mid-range a little bit more. There were varying results.

With star guard Donovan Mitchell sidelined with an injury toward the end of Cleveland's second-round playoff matchup with the Celtics, Mobley had to take on a larger role in the offense. With the ball running through him more, the 6-foot-11 forward flashed some really promising things, including scoring a playoff career high 33 points in an elimination Game 5.

It may have provided a glimpse of what his game can become under Atkinson.

"He's generally got to have the ball in his hands more, but also the transition piece is a big part of that," said Atkinson. "I have a lot of experience watching power forwards and centers bringing the ball in transition. So I think it's a strength of his, how he runs the court. So that's something that I think that's one of the shifts you'll see. You'll see him more in transition with the ball and then without the ball he kind of knows the places he's running where we can get him the ball."