Georges Niang Likens Evan Mobley’s Skill Set To Two Former NBA All-Star Teammates
As the Cleveland Cavaliers get deeper into training camp, members of the team start to get a better feel for their teammates. Georges Niang is one of the new guys of the bunch who is quickly becoming an integral piece of the locker room, and he’s already handed out praise to many of his fellow Cavs along the way.
But after Saturday’s practice, Niang complimented rising star Evan Mobley in the best of ways when he correlated his skill set to not one, but two of his past NBA All-Star teammates.
“I don’t want to make a quote and have it go viral, but it’s along the lines of how Rudy Gobert protects the rim. Their size, their frame is the same. You look at Evan’s ability to play in the mid-post like Joel [Embiid] and there are a ton of similarities.”
Niang mentioning Mobley with proven veteran stars like Embiid and Gobert is just another example of how the Cavs as a whole have commended Mobley for the work he’s put in over the offseason and during camp. Nobody has shied away from talking about just how good he can be. That goes for coaches, teammates and the front office.
“I think the coolest thing about Evan is he is so eager to be better every single day,” Niang said. “He may not be vocal about it or demonstrative but you can see that he is eager to be the best Evan he can be every single day. He hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he can be. He has so much potential.
“But his drive and his work ethic, every day he is in here working on something – maneuvering and how to drive on physical drives, posting up, playing out of the short roll or being able to pass, which is another thing that people don’t really notice. “He is a really good passer. He just is always working. Guys that are that young and have that much drive, you don’t usually find that, especially in professional sports. He definitely has some similarities to both for sure.”
Nov 30, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) dunks against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) in the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Niang candidly doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the up-and-coming Mobley, who is going into his third season in the league. However, even if that hype picks up, it’s clear as day how the organization feels about where the 21-year-old can go and how he can take Cleveland to another level.
“I think for him, it’s to consistently do the things that he has been doing, just at a higher level,” Niang said regarding Mobley’s developmental rise. “Taking the next step, whether it’s on defense, in being a lockdown defender and anchoring our defense. Or on offense continuing to be a primary guy we can play through in the short roll or facilitating at the top or getting rebounds and pushing.
“That’s the next evolution for him.”
