Clock is ticking for Evan Mobley after huge overtime for Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Evan Mobley to a five-year, $224 million contract extension on Saturday night, showing their full confidence in Mobley as a mainstay of the franchise.

Now it’s up to Mobley to deliver on his end of the bargain.

The Cavaliers originally selected Mobley with the third overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft. He immediately became an impact player for Cleveland and has remained one ever since.

But how much has Mobley really improved since his debut season?

Not very much.

The USC player averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in his debut season, giving Cavs fans a taste of what the future could hold.

Two seasons later, Mobley was averaging 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a night. That’s hardly elite progress.

There’s no sugar coating it: Mobley’s development has stalled. That’s not to say he’s not a good player or that he can’t get better. He’s only 23, after all. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we said he’s improved dramatically over the course of three NBA campaigns.

Of course, it’s not all Mobley’s fault.

The tricky frontcourt combination with Jarrett Allen has certainly made life more difficult for Mobley, as neither Allen nor Mobley are actually on the court.

Mobley has shown some potential in that area, making 37.3 percent of his three-pointers last season. The caveat is that was 59 attempts in 50 games, so the volume just wasn’t there.

This has led to intense speculation about an Allen trade, with many pushing for the Cavaliers to trade the former All-Star center for a big man who can actually shoot from the outside and provide opportunities for Mobley.

Or could Mobley perhaps improve from three?

It appears Cleveland is not going to trade Allen. At least not at this point. That leaves it up to Mobley to improve individually, and guess what? That’s not unfair considering his draft position.

Mobley wasn’t a mid-first-round pick or a second-rounder; he was a top-three selection. The Cavs drafted him based on his potential, and while he’s certainly shown flashes, he hasn’t made the progress that Cavaliers fans were hoping for.

Often young players make a big leap in their third year. Darius Garland did it. Looking at other Eastern Conference stars, Jayson Tatum did it too.

Mobley didn’t quite do that. In fact, he scored baptized from his sophomore season, when he scored 16.2 points a night.

The San Diego native definitely deserves some grace. Again, he’s still very young and his growth has been stunted in part by circumstances beyond his control.

But there’s no excuse not to develop a better offensive skill set in year three. Mobley is still very limited in that area, and the question is how much of the blame should be placed on him and how much of it should be placed on Cleveland’s organization.

Perhaps new head coach Kenny Atkinson can get the best out of Mobley, but Mobley himself still needs to improve his skills.

Mobley is a good young player. The Cavs were right to extend him. He could undoubtedly be a building block for the future.

But if Mobley doesn’t show significant improvement next season, we’ll have to seriously ask ourselves if he’s the player he is now, and if that’s good enough.