What we learned about Cavs: Mobley’s offense is taking shape

Mobley’s skills as an on-ball playmaker are finally showing through.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished winless in their exhibition slate. This included two losses with their starters playing into the second half.

Here’s what we learned from this week’s tune-up games.

Dean Wade is shooting the ball

The Cavs have been begging Wade to shoot more for quite some time. He seems to finally be obliging as he attempted nine triples in Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls when he was starting in place of Max Strus. Wade is attempting 9.1 threes per 36 minutes through four preseason games. For context, his career-highest is 6.6 three-point attempts per 36 minutes.

Wade’s defense has made him valuable for the Cavs even though he hasn’t been above the third percentile in offensive usage in any of the last three seasons. There’s no reason that should be the case considering his shooting ability.

Strus’s injury should allow Wade to showcase just how good of a player he can be. To do that, he will need to continue to shoot the ball like he has through preseason.

Craig Porter Jr. might not be more than a third point guard

There was a time midway through last season when it seemed like Porter was already a capable backup point guard — and could even become more in the future. Everything fell off once opponents adjusted to his lack of an outside shot. This was seen in his splits before January 2024 (7.5 points, 3.3 assists) and after (4 points, 1.5 assists).

This change carried over into Summer League where he looked worse this past July than he did the year before. Preseason has been a continuation of that trend. Wednesday's showing against the Detroit Pistons was rough. Porter didn't play the following preseason game until overtime when he was placed with four players who're expected to get most of their minutes with the Cleveland Charge this season.

Porter hasn't shown signs that would make you think he's going to take the next step forward this season. Now, it seems like he's more of a back of the roster, third point guard as opposed to a good backup. That would be a disappointing outcome based on where things were last December.

Darius Garland is more active in the passing lane

Atkinson made a point to highlight Garland's defense when asked about his offensive pairing with Donovan Mitchell at media day saying he's “always rated him as a plus defender.” This seemed odd in the moment. Not that Garland is necessarily bad for his size, but his physical limitations have always made him a weaker link in Cleveland’s exceptional defense. We saw this week some of what Atkinson might’ve been talking about.

Steals aren’t a barometer for defensive ability, but they’re helpful to pick up. Garland recorded seven combined takeaways in his last two exhibition games. This is something he’s continually been slightly above average in, but he could take a step forward if the activity he showed in these two preseason contests is any indication of where his game currently is.

These steals display a level of anticipation and active hands that haven’t always been there for Garland. We’ll see if this is something that can carry into a season where he’ll be asked to move more off-ball and play at a faster pace.

Evan Mobley continues to round out his offensive game

Mobley’s eight assists on Friday show that he can take the next step forward as a facilitator. This is a skill that has shown through at times during his first three seasons but was never fully realized.

One of the things that was interesting about Mobley’s assists against Chicago was how often they led to three-pointers. Half of his 3.2 assists per game last season ended up in threes (1.6), but the lack of his assertiveness or not being a priority on offense kept this from making a noticeable impact. You could feel that impact much more when he’s playing empowered and assertive like he was against the Bulls.

Two things immediately stand out from these clips. First, Mobley causes the defense to collapse so much when he’s attacking the basket with a full head of steam. He possesses both the awareness and the passing ability to find shooters on the perimeter as he did with the passes out of the paint to Ty Jerome in the corner and Wade on the wing.

Second, is that it opens up off-ball movement from screens. Mobley isn’t a good screener for his position which limits how effective he can be. Georges Niang and Jarrett Allen don’t have those issues.

Mobley operating with the ball opens up space and opportunities for the other big he’s on the floor with to screen for others. You can see that in his pass to Sam Merrill off the Niang screen. Or his assist to Mitchell off the Allen pick. Both are plays that might not have worked as well if Mobley is either the screener or not involved in the play at all.

Improving his three-point shooting has often been looked at as the only way Mobley can take his next step forward. While that is understandable and something he needs to continue to work at, there are so many other ways Mobley can also do that. He is an incredibly skilled player who is still figuring out how to appropriately apply his unique blend of skill and athleticism. We’re just now beginning to see how that looks with this newly emboldened version of Mobley.