This past Sunday, Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered an injury in the first half of a contest against the Miami Heat.
He landed awkwardly on Kevin Love‘s foot with about 2:37 left in the first quarter and began to limp. He tried to play through the injury, but his speed and mobility were limited. Mobley logged only 11 minutes and 46 seconds during the first half.
At halftime, the team chose not to bring Mobley back out for the second half. He stayed in the locker room, so coach Kenny Atkinson had to adjust his rotations for the second half. The result? More minutes for multiple players.
Georges Niang played significantly more than usual, playing over 31 minutes despite averaging just over 20 minutes per game this season thus far. Dean Wade played seven minutes more than normal, and Caris LeVert and Ty Jerome also played a few more minutes than usual. The Cavs, missing Mobley’s defensive and rebounding presence, suffered their fourth loss of the season, 122-113.
Mobley’s Impact
Mobley’s impact is most certainly felt on the floor but also seen in the stats.
As the Cavs’ starting power forward, he is currently averaging 18.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. He leads the team in blocks, and only Jarrett Allen grabs more rebounds than him. Mobley also is averaging the second most minutes on the team behind Donovan Mitchell.
With Mobley playing much less than usual, the Heat outrebounded the Cavs 47-36. Furthermore, they gave up over 30 points in each of the last three quarters. The Cavs have a size problem, and Mobley’s injury is just the incident that exposed it.
There Are Only Two Towers
Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are the only players standing over 6-10 feet on the Cavs. (Both are listed at 6-foot-11).
Two players on the Cavs roster are listed exactly at 6-foot-10: Emoni Bates and JT Thor. Both of them are on two-way contracts, however. Thor has seen the floor in three games this season, while Bates hasn’t played for the Cavs yet at all.
Dean Wade and Georges Niang, who received most of what would have been Mobley’s minutes Sunday, stand at only 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-7, respectively. Wade averages 4.6 rebounds per game and 1.4 blocks per game, while Niang averages 3.8 rebounds per game and 0.2 blocks per game. Collectively, they do not add up to Mobley’s averages for either stat, even though they combine for 12 more minutes played per game than Mobley.
In a league where the average height of a center is 6-foot-11.3 inches, this fatal flaw could bite the Cavs in the rear end if they want to make a deep playoff run. The Cavs cannot afford any health issues with their bigs, and even if they keep their roster healthy, they don’t have any size coming off the bench. They currently rank 19th in the league in rebounding and 23rd in the league in blocks. Considering Mobley has only missed one game this year, and Allen has played every game, neither of those numbers is ideal.
The Solution
The Cavs have been outrebounded in all four of their losses this season.
They must figure out a way to bolster the size of their roster. They’ve cooled off since their hot 15-0 start to the season and are 6-4 in their last ten games.
There are two ways to go about this:
The first option is to play Tristan Thompson and JT Thor more. They’ve both been productive with their minutes this season, so it wouldn’t hurt to experiment with them some more.
The second option is to make a roster change, either by signing a free agent or making a trade. Koby Altman, the Cavs’ President of Basketball Operations, has done a great job with the roster in the post-LeBron era. However, this could be the last puzzle piece to solidify the Cavs as championship contenders.
Leave a comment