Cavs: There will be a debate all season about Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs

Cavs’ big man Evan Mobley has struggled with shooting in Summer League.

One of the big debates heading into the 2021 NBA Draft was whether or not Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, or someone else should be the choice at the third-overall spot that the Cavs owned. Cleveland eventually went with Mobley, and Suggs went fifth overall to the Magic, in a pick that many saw as a steal since the Raptors passed on him at fourth overall.

Mobley through three summer league games is shooting just 34.8% from the floor, and 12.5% from three-point. He’s averaging just 7.7 rebounds per game but is also averaging 3.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game as well. So with the bad, there is some good.

The truth is that Mobley was never going to be Shaquille O’Neal out of college. He’s a player who needed to work on his offense. We knew this. He has a wide variety of skills, but none of them are honed well enough to be relied upon in a major role just yet. He’ll take some time to develop. The problem comes with the fact that Suggs isn’t going to need the same learning curve and people are already taking notice.

Expectations on Jalen Suggs are through the roof after his first three games

There are people in the NBA blog-o-sphere that are seeing Suggs as a guy that can develop into a superstar. He’s having a solid Summer League so far, shooting 41.5% from the floor, 35.7% from three, while averaging over six rebounds and two assists so far per game. Sure, it’s not Michael Jordan dropping 37 per game in ’86-’86, but he’s been playing well.

Mobley has struggled offensively and that should be something to keep an eye on as the Summer League transitions into the pre-season, but it shouldn’t be a place of concern. Not yet anyway. His defense has been very solid, though not spectacular, and he’s overcompensating for guys on the roster who won’t be there come the fall.

When he’s playing alongside Isaac Okoro, Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade, and others, Mobley might be a whole different player.

With his ability to pass and his exceptional ability to block shots, even if Mobley struggles offensively for some time, it’s still far too soon to write him off.

That doesn’t mean that Mobley won’t be compared to Suggs, especially if the Magic get off to a better start than the Cavs. If Suggs can pull a Dwyane Wade and help lead the Magic to a turnaround season in year one, then fans are going to start asking questions.

All that said, that’s still a long way away.