Evan Mobley and his rise has been steady, but it’s starting to look inevitable. The 23-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers forward is evolving into one of the most complete players in the NBA, a two-way force whose ceiling seems to get higher every season.
Mobley is one of five players who could make an MVP leap this year,
“Evan Mobley continued his steady climb up the NBA hierarchy last season, winning Defensive Player of the Year while also showing major growth on offense,” Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes wrote.
“He displayed never-before-seen physicality as a driver, finishing with the kind of brutal authority that other big men used to employ against him in his younger string-bean days. Mobley has become the aggressor now, and he’s added that overpowering layer to his game while also tuning the finer points.
“After never averaging more than 1.2 long-range tries per game in his career, he fired off 3.2 in 2024-25, hitting 37.0 percent of them,” Hughes added. “Though Mobley’s assists per game stayed steady at 3.2, his overall touch time and average seconds per touch both spiked. Long story short: Cleveland trusted Mobley to handle the rock and make decisions like never before.”
The Cavaliers finished last season as the No. 1 seed in the East, and Mobley’s expanded role under new head coach Kenny Atkinson was a massive reason why. With Atkinson’s system emphasizing versatility and spacing, Mobley finally looked like the offensive anchor Cleveland envisioned when they drafted him third overall.
Even NBA legend Tracy McGrady sees what’s coming next.
“I think he could be an MVP candidate,” McGrady said. “I think the Cavs will be near the top of the East, and if he takes another leap offensively to go with that defense, he’s in the conversation.”
Former player and analyst Anthony echoed that belief: “If he takes that next step, which Coach Kenny Atkinson has talked about, he’s an MVP candidate.”
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