Atkinson knows that Mobley is the key to the Cavs growth.
The Cleveland Cavaliers moved on from J.B. Bickerstaff because they couldn’t get to the next level. Finding the best player development coach they could in Kenny Atkinson was their unconventional solution to the problem.
“Five years ago our whole foundation was going to be built on player development,” Koby Altman, president of basketball operations said. “And even though we made the conference semis and we won 99 games the last few years, we don’t want to lose focus on that.”
It was clear that was the emphasis from the start of the head coaching search. That’s why Atkinson and James Borrego were the first two and last two candidates for the job. As much as Altman has talked about appreciating Bickerstaff for leading the team out of the wilderness, the young players weren’t developing as they should. Most notably, Evan Mobley who holds the keys to whether or not the Cavs can keep up with a conference that’s becoming more wing reliant.
“When you have an Evan Mobley who’s 23 and a Darius Garland who’s 24, they haven’t reached their potential yet,” Altman said. “When you have a coach that’s fastball is player development and you do your research around the game and they always say [that Atkinson] is the best player development coach you can possibly find. That gives me solace to know that that program that we have is going to be the best in the world.”
If Atkinson is going to live up to that standard, he will need to figure out how to better use Mobley.
“He’s so multitalented,” Atkinson said. “That was a big part of our discussion.”
Mobley is the reason the Cavs made the jump they did in the 2021-22 season, but he’s stalled out since. Part of that could be due to constantly shifting between the power forward and center while not perfecting either skillset. Currently, Mobley isn’t ready to play either position full-time. That needs to change.
The offensive side of the ball is where Mobley has shown the most untapped upside. His performance against the Boston Celtics in May provided hints at how dominant he could be attacking in a more spaced-out environment. Mobley also showed potential as a shooter by connecting on 37.3% of his threes last season. Taking only 1.2 per game meant the offense wasn’t able to benefit like they should from a big who shot as efficiently as Mobley did.
Not seeing his potential hasn’t been the issue. Consistently carving out a space for him to continuously show those skills has. Using Mobley more often as a play initiator is one way Atkinson intends to achieve that.
“I do think we can schematically get the ball in his hands more,” Atkinson said. “And it’s going to be multiple ways. I think when you have a guy that versatile, it can be him in transition, bringing the ball up. It could be him handling in a five-out situation. Him handling in a pick and roll. I think there’s creative things we can do to help him.”
Atkinson isn’t suggesting anything the Cavs haven’t already tried to do. We’ve briefly seen Mobley run inverted pick-and-rolls, he’s had stretches of really pushing in transition, and he’s even been able to attack in lineups with four shooters. The issue is those efforts aren’t sustained which allows him to fall back into what he’s comfortable doing.
The Cavs took their first leap because of the internal growth of their core. The jump from good to great — if it ever comes — will have to come the same way due to the lack of assets they can use to retool the roster. Mobley is the one who has the most room to grow.
Hiring a player development coach is almost unheard of for a team in the Cavs’ position. Atkinson has also never been in this position as a head coach. That said, his role in focusing on internal improvements, like he did to bring the Brooklyn Nets back to relevance, is still his pathway to success on a very different team. That all starts with Mobley.
“With the roster that’s in place, there’s enough to take that next step, no doubt about it” Atkinson said. “But Evan is a big piece of that. I’m going to feel a huge responsibility to help him get to that, top 15, top 20 [player in the league]. Whatever it is, top five. Why not? The skill level and the athleticism and the human being, I don’t see why we can’t.”
