After spraining his right ankle on October 3rd, Evan Mobley returned to practice on Thursday and will make his preseason debut in Cleveland’s preseason finale on Friday in Orlando.
#Cavs Evan Mobley will make his preseason debut tomorrow night in Orlando. Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen will not travel make the trip.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) October 13, 2022
Unfortunately, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will all be getting the night off and won’t be joining him in his debut. Since this will be Cleveland’s final preseason game, their new core will all play together in a game for the first time in the season opener in Toronto on October 19th.
As a rookie last season, Mobley averaged 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks in 33.8 minutes per game across 69 regular season appearances. In the team’s two losses in the play-in tournament, he averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. He finished second in the voting for Rookie of the Year behind Scottie Barnes.
Now, with the addition of Donovan Mitchell, they have three All-Stars and much higher expectations. Mobley is going to need to make the big leap that many second-year players do for the Cavaliers to have a chance to contend in the loaded Eastern Conference.
The starting small forward job is still up for grabs, though it seems like Caris LeVert is the favorite to join the core four in the starting unit.
