Cavs draft Isaiah Mobley No. 49: Scouting report and how he fits

Publish date: 2024-06-30

Isaiah Mobley joins his brother once again. With the No. 49 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Mobley, older brother of Evan Mobley, out of USC.

Cleveland acquired the pick on Thursday in a trade with the Sacramento Kings, giving up draft rights to 6-foot-9 forward Sasha Vezenkov and $1.75 million in cash.

Here’s a quick analysis of Mobley’s strengths, weaknesses and his fit in Cleveland.

Strengths

Mobley is a post-hype big man who has emerged over the last year and a half as a legitimate NBA prospect. He was a McDonald’s All-American in 2019, but it took him a minute to establish himself in college. In 2020-21, he was terrific in the back half of the season with his brother. This past season, he emerged as a terrific all-around player and USC’s centerpiece. Earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors and led USC to the NCAA Tournament.

Good size for the NBA four position, but I also think he could slide to the five at times with his 7-foot-3 wingspan and 9-foot standing reach. Moves his feet better than he gets credit for and has a terrific feel for the game. A big whose game really makes sense for the NBA.

I like Mobley most on defense, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given his brother, but that hasn’t always been Isaiah’s rep. He switches well across the wing and big positions while also being an extremely effective post defender with his relative lower-body strength. Uses his intersection of fluid feet and quickness well across the frontcourt on this end. I wouldn’t say he’s a switchable guy onto ones and twos, but I think he does a good job of holding up where he can and using angles to marginally affect them at times. At the rim, he’s not really a shot blocker, but he’s very effective as a rim protector in similar ways to Al Horford. Knows how to use his strength and chest to get into a player’s body without fouling. His wingspan gives him the ability to contest, despite the wingspan not being overly enormous.

Offensively, you can see how Mobley came up as more of a point forward when he was a McDonald’s All-American. Had some terrific grab-and-go moments where he essentially was a lead option for USC. Throws some awesome passes to teammates. Can throw them on the move and throw anticipatory reads that get his players open. Hits cross-corner skips out of both short rolls and post-ups already. I love him out of short rolls, a readily applicable skill to how NBA teams would use him. He can dribble a few times to bring the defender toward him to open angles. He also can process quickly and throw nice touch passes. Loves the overhead pass to his man in the dunker spot. Dished out 3.3 assists per game while posting a near 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as USC’s primary option.

Good in grab-and-go situations if a smaller defender or if no one picks him up as a scorer. Can drive and finish quickly. Mobley also is a good finisher with touch around the basket. Made 61.7 percent of his shots at the basket. I buy Mobley as a shooter. He has a funky follow-through, but everything else is pretty good. His shot prep is terrific. Gets into his rhythm off the hop and almost always is ready to fire upon the catch. Really elevates into it. Extremely clean, high release with a high finish on the shot. Legit pick-and-pop and real spot-up threat. Makes them off quick movement when popping to the perimeter. You can tell he has extreme confidence shooting from 3. — Sam Vecenie

(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)

Weaknesses

Not a superb athlete. Could struggle with the adjustment up to playing actual, NBA-level length. Not an explosive leaper, which could hinder him as a rim protector. Doesn’t have a ton of burst laterally or in terms of first step.

That lack of athleticism will really slow him down as a creator. Has difficulty separating from his man. Going to make it really tough for him to drive and collapse defenders. Good at doing it when he’s in short rolls, because he already has the four-on-three advantage when teams put two players on the ball but won’t be able to create that advantage for himself. Ends up settling for a bunch of tougher push shots and mini hooks because he can’t get around anyone and get a clean runway toward the rim. Even when he does, opposing defenders won’t have much of an issue recovering against him. Shot creation won’t be his game in the NBA, but I’m not sure he needs it to be successful.

Defensively, will that lack of athleticism hurt him in space? Has a chance to get cooked by guards because of his lateral quickness. Takes good angles on the ball to be able to minimize it, but those angles are even tougher to manage in the NBA when the court is a bit more spread. Additionally, I do think he left a few too many opportunities as a help-side rim protector wanting. Doesn’t always rotate, possibly out of a desire to stay out of foul trouble due to USC needing him, but he also seems to react late occasionally from time to time. Can he be good enough? He could end up, physically, between being a drop-coverage big and a switch big; he’s not quick enough to slide with guards and not good enough as a rim protector to play in drops. — Vecenie

The fit in Cleveland

The Mobley brothers are back together in Cleveland. The Cavs have a number of power forwards, so Isaiah Mobley enters a crowded situation. Not only did younger brother Evan hold the starting position at power forward last season, but he also excelled in that role alongside Jarrett Allen, setting up a dynamic duo in the frontcourt.

Cleveland also still has Kevin Love on the roster, who played fewer minutes and came off the bench last season but was productive in those minutes and provided a necessary veteran voice on a young team. There are others like Dean Wade, who served as a role player coming off the bench, and Lauri Markkanen — who played a majority of last season as a three in the Cavs’ big lineup — who saw minutes at the four. — Kelsey Russo

Summary

I would imagine Mobley is one of the players I most diverge from consensus. I buy him as an interesting, potential-guarantee guy because of the way his game could translate to what the NBA looks for from modern bigs. He’s a killer passer out of short rolls, and he can shoot, which already gives him an enormous leg up on a lot of bigs in today’s NBA. He has good defensive awareness for the most part and can slide his feet at a really high level, in addition to him having a 7-foot-3 wingspan. I’m something of a believer in Mobley. — Vecenie

BeamDash

Cavs draft Isaiah Mobley No. 49: Scouting report and how he fits

Strengths

Weaknesses

The fit in Cleveland

Summary

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