Rookie Fit Preview: Following Donovan Mitchell Trade, Only Isaiah Mobley Remains in Cavs Uniform From Recent Draft

Following the Donovan Mitchell trade, Isaiah Mobley is the only rookie on the Cavaliers' roster.

Although they made four selections in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers now only have one rookie that will be in uniform this season. Between trades and draft-and-stash prospects, the Cavs took a unique approach to leveraging this rookie class.

Following the trade of Donovan Mitchell, it's clear that Cleveland is ready to win now. With that in mind, will the lone Cleveland rookie be a contributor? He's on a two-way deal, but has ties to another member of the team.

The Rookie Class 

Isaiah Mobley (Forward | No. 49 Overall)

The lone rookie that will be on the roster this season in Cleveland, Mobley is a playmaking forward that can impact the game on both ends.

Roles and Opportunities 

The top piece of the Cavaliers' draft was Ochai Agbaiji (No. 14), who was just traded to the Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell deal. From there, they made three second-round selections in Khalifa Diop (No. 39), Isaiah Mobley (No. 49), Luke Travers (No. 56).

Diop was a draft-and-stash pick for Cleveland, who will not be with the organization next season and will remain in the Spanish League. Travers was also drafted with the intention that he would continue to play overseas before making his official NBA debut. Earlier this summer, he signed a three-year contract extension to remain with his home town team, the Perth Wildcats.

As such, neither of these players will contribute in Cleveland until further down the road.

This leaves Isaiah Mobley, the older brother of rising star Evan Mobley, who was signed to a two-way deal. He'll be the only rookie selected by Cleveland in the 2022 NBA Draft that will actually play minutes in a Cavaliers uniform this season. 

The 22-year-old is on a two-way deal on a team that's ready to win now, which means opportunity may not always be there. With that in mind, every team experiences injuries throughout the season which could give Mobley a chance. Additionally, if he has a good stretch of games in the G League and is able to prove himself, he may earn minutes with the Cavs in the middle portion of the season.

Projections 

Mobley has a ton of length, which helps him on the defensive end. As an offensive player, he's a good positional facilitator and can also knock down shot from beyond the arc. In the modern NBA, guys that can do those things often have success.

With that in mind, even if Mobley does prove to be worthy of minutes this season, he'll be competing against his brother, Kevin Love, Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens among others for court time. Cleveland has quite a bit of depth in the frontcourt.

Although he thrived in NBA Summer League, Mobley will take some time to adjust to the true NBA game. He'll be going up against many other players of his size, which isn't necessarily something that happened often at USC.

Again, the Cavaliers made big moves this summer and are making a push for a championship with four NBA All-Star level players on the roster. If Isaiah Mobley does get minutes this season, it will be in a very defined role off the bench.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.