When attempting to explain the potential of Evan Mobley, Kenny Atkinson has been known to invoke the name of an all-time great. “Magic Johnson,” says Atkinson, the Cavaliers’ head coach. “Sometimes, he’ll be playing, and he’ll look like him.” An example: In mid-March, Mobley yanked down a rebound early in the second quarter of Cleveland’s game against Memphis. He started the fast break, instantly switching from 6' 11", 215-pound defensive menace to an impossibly long playmaker. As the Cavs’ wings spaced the floor, Mobley stopped at the top of the key and buried a 25-footer. “If he starts hitting that regularly,” says Atkinson. “Yeesh.”
When Atkinson interviewed for Cleveland’s head coaching job last year, Mobley’s development wasn’t part of the discussion. It was the discussion. “Seventy percent of it,” says Atkinson. “Maybe more.” Three years in, Mobley was already a terrific player. A reliable, 15-point-ish scorer on one end, a shot-blocking, switch-busting, omnipresent defender on the other. The Cavs, though, believed there was more. If Atkinson wanted the job, there needed to be a clear plan to unlock that potential.
