Endless possibilities will present themselves to you The Cleveland Cavaliers If Evan Mobley develops a three-point shot, let’s see how that process goes.
The first sip
We all know this is an important point. But how has Mobley improved as a jump shooter?
Mobley shot just 25 percent from three-point range as a rookie. Somehow, he regressed to 21.6 percent as a sophomore, making Mobley the worst shooter in history. Full NBA for a minimum of 100 3PA.
Things didn’t get much better for Mobley when he got inside the arc. He shot just 36.4 percent from 10-14 feet, second worst mark in the league during the 2022-23 season.
In other words, the bar was set pretty low heading into Mobley’s third season. Did he clear it? The answer is a resounding yes.
Mobley shot a career-best 37.3 percent from three-point range after improving his shooting while recovering from a knee injury. Mobley’s mechanics have picked up a bit and appear to have fixed the issue that previously led to inconsistencies.
It wasn’t a silver bullet, far from it. Mobley attempted less than half as many three-pointers as he had the year before and converted just 27.8 percent of his three-point attempts in the playoffs.
Still, his slightly improved mechanics helped improve not only his perimeter shooting, but also his free-throw line. Mobley shot a career-best 71.9 percent from the field, an increase of nearly 5 percent.
Mobley has yet to establish a rhythm from mid-range. Even with his progress elsewhere, he remains well below league average from 10-16 feet. Carving out a niche from the elbow is arguably just as important as extending his range to the three-point line for Mobley.
Can we be sure that last season was the first step towards efficiency for the 23-year-old? There is no guarantee that he will continue to improve each year, or that last season was not simply a fluke.
Still, the easiest way to justify Mobley’s max contract extension is if he becomes a tier-three scorer. The signs of growth last season are cause for optimism. He may never become one. nothing absurd like Victor Wembanyama, but even a modest increase in three-point volume would make Mobley a special two-way threat.
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Random Rider of the Day – Ira Newble
Ira Newble is the most “2000s” role player you can imagine. He has been describe like an NBA player who would have been better suited to the NHL. A physical, gritty defender who played big minutes despite his lack of scoring on offense. He couldn’t shoot, dribble, or put the ball in the basket reliably, but he could stop the other team from scoring, and that was all that mattered.
Newble played in Cleveland from 2003-08, before eventually being traded to Seattle in an 11-player deal that Newble only learned about from watching ESPN — as apparently No one from the Cavs called him to inform him before the deadline.
The Cavaliers probably would have preferred not to invest $15 million in Newble during LeBron James’ first stint in Cleveland. They would have been better positioned to surround James with more offensive talent. Still, there’s no denying that Newble didn’t give his all every night. That’s worth something.
