The Cavaliers and Evan Mobley plan to have the rookie make his return from a right elbow sprain on Saturday vs. Orlando, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link).
Barring setbacks, Mobley will be back in Cleveland’s lineup earlier than anticipated. When he was diagnosed with an elbow sprain earlier this month, the Cavs announced that the big man would be sidelined for two-to-four weeks. That was just 10 days ago.
Mobley, who only has 15 NBA games under his belt, has already emerged as a key part of the Cavs’ game plan on both offense and defense. Even after going 0-for-11 from the floor in the November 15 game in which he sustained his elbow injury, Mobley has impressive averages of 14.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.6 BPG in 33.7 minutes per contest. The Cavs, who have lost all four games he has missed, have a 99.6 defensive rating when the 20-year-old plays, compared to 109.7 when he sits.
Still, it seems safe to assume Cleveland wouldn’t be rushing Mobley back into the lineup if he and the team weren’t both fully confident that he’s ready. While the 9-10 Cavs certainly want to end their five-game losing streak and re-enter the playoff picture, Mobley is a long-term centerpiece for the club, which wouldn’t risk his health to bring him back a little ahead of schedule.
Which of these Cavs legends would you rather have on your team if you could have them for their entire career, Ron Harper, Evan Mobley, Kyrie Irving, Austin Carr or Brad Daugherty?
Mobley, this was easy.
Kyrie won them their only title by knocking down the biggest shot in NBA history & has already been a perennial all-star since his early 20s. You think Mobley will outdo that easily?
Daughtery. I saw him play. Before his knee injuries he was a top center in the East. Harper was good before his ACL injury. And are you already placing Mobley in the “Cavs legends” list? That’s pretty early. I would replace him with Z.
Brad was a beast but I don’t think it’s hard to see that Mobley will also be a top big in the East pretty soon.
1/ Daugherty
2/ Mobley
3/ Kyrie
4/ Harper
5/ Carr
Mark Price
Itd be Kyrie if he wasn’t a complete asshat. Gotta go with Mobleys upside
Mobley is amazing to watch! He is a great talent and is going to be the best of this class for years to come!