Cavs: Comparing Evan Mobley to Chris Bosh and Kevin Garnett only puts the rookie in a box

People should stop comparing Cavs’ big-man Evan Mobley to NBA greats.

Making comparisons to NBA greats is the quickest way to doom a young player. In doing so, you shoehorn them into what they’re supposed to be, instead of what they can be. That’s exactly what many, including his own coaches, are doing to Evan Mobley right now. In the span of a day, Cavs head coach compared Mobley to Kevin Garnett, while The Athletic’s John Hollinger has compared him to Chris Bosh.

He’s played three NBA games. Stop it. This isn’t surprising from Bickerstaff, since Koby Altman came on board, every young player gets hyped up, even if there’s no reason to do so. It’s mostly a PR move, to try and get people to notice what’s going on.

It’s smart for branding purposes, but as far as expectations for a player, it’s the worst thing you can do.

Evan Mobley has little in common with those NBA greats.

Firstly, let’s be clear here, this isn’t an assessment of talent or expectations. Just facts. Chris Bosh was not a three-point shooter until he was about 29 years old. Taking less than one shot per game does not make him a stretch-four. Kevin Love is a stretch four. Bosh, for a decade mind you, was a standard big man.

So the problem with comparing Bosh to Mobley is that they were two different players from the jump. Bosh was not a stretch big entering the league, despite stats saying otherwise. While that’s how he’s viewed, as some sort of Ray-Allen-as-a-big type shooter, he never really was. Not until the last two years of his career.

While Kevin Garnett was never a great three-point shooter, he was arguably the best defensive player of his era. Mobley threw three games (just three), has a net rating of -9.3 and a defensive net rating of 111.3. Kevin Love has a defensive net rating of 113.2. Mobley is far from Garnett.

Garnett had a defensive rating of 107 as a rookie (92 at his peak). His rookie year was also his worst year as a defender.

So keep in mind that Mobley isn’t playing anything like Bosh, nor is he as aggressive or knowledgable as Garnett defensively.

None of this is meant to undercut the rookie, it’s being mentioned to keep people from spinning out of control on the matter. Once these comparisons are made, that’s what people will expect from him. The odds are that he’ll likely not be a great (probably good) three-point shooter and he will likely never reach the heights of Garnett defensively. So why pigeon hold him to those standards?

So to expect him to be a stretch-big or to be a lockdown defender is a fool’s errand. Let him be what he’s going to be. As long as he’s productive, who cares if he’s the next Bosh or Garnett? Let him be the first Mobley. Putting him in those boxes will only ensure disappointment when it turns out he’s not as good as Garnett defensively and maybe never gets seen as the next Bosh.

If the Cavs win with him, however, that will be enough. So stop comparing him to whomever, you’re only setting both him and yourself up for disappointment.