The tenure of Cavaliers rookie center Evan Mobley in this year’s NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is over, confirms Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). Fedor adds that the Cavaliers were only ever planning to have the former USC big man, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft, suit up for three contests while in Vegas.
In 33 games for USC, Mobley averaged 16.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG and 2.9 BPG. He was named the 2020/21 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as well as the 2020/21 Pac-12 Player of the Year during his lone college season. Mobley was also a consensus All-American selection.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- A Cavaliers team representative attended a Las Vegas workout for free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein this week, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Hartenstein played with Cleveland to conclude the season, as part of the team’s return package in the trade that sent center JaVale McGee to the Nuggets. Fedor notes that, though Cleveland may be open to a reunion, the club’s priority is adding wing depth. The seven-footer averaged 8.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.2 BPG across 16 games for Cleveland after the deal.
- Pistons rookie big man Luka Garza is aware that he may have to use effort to compensate for his shortcomings in speed. “I know every guy in the NBA can beat me in a 3/4 court sprint,” he said, per James Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). “But is everyone going to run that hard in the game? No, but I’m going to.” The 6’11” Garza was the No. 52 selection out of Iowa in this year’s draft.
- New Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan anticipates that his All Star teammate Zach LaVine will see his play improve thanks to a galvanizing Summer Olympics stint in Tokyo this year, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Just being around the greatest players in the world, the greatest minds, the greatest coaches, it does something unconsciously to you that gives you the ultimate confidence, the ultimate work ethic, makes you realize that you belong in the elite category of guys,” DeRozan said. “You see their work ethic, the way they approach the game, the winning mentality that they have and what it feels like to win. And something like that carries over whether you realize it or not. It goes a long way.” DeRozan won a gold medal with Team USA during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Love watching Luka play. Best of luck to him, great summer league start!
Gotta be IN the game to outrun/outwork someone.
Summer league playing time is his ceiling. The actual NBA will show he should be overseas, the GLeague, or selling Amway.
Can’t take away his Iowa career tho!
Nah he’s gonna be a serviceable backup, big men who are dedicated to rebounding and playing hard are making a comeback, positionless basketball only counts for shooting guard through power forward now
That’s what KnickerbockerAl is always saying, but there are plenty of big men out there who shoot threes and don’t play much defense who are quickly being phased out of the game, just like Kevin Love.
The absurd contract, 10 year age gap and injury history, you don’t think that has anything to do with it? Garza has enough of an offensive skill set where he will carve out a back-up role.
Are you a rep? Maybe you can sign him up?
Do people still sell Amway? I didn’t realize it was still 1966.
I have a tremendous business opportunity to tell you about, but you have to promise to keep in on the D-L so not everyone and their brother is taking advantage before we do. Here, let me get you a business card for my upline, and you can call…. sir? SIR!? COME BACK!
People still sell enough Amway that the Orlando Magic can afford to be an NBA team. DeVos family owns it last I checked.
Garza was a good pick. He’s a big that can shoot and rebound. He can build up his athleticism with work. He’s lost the weight. Now it’s strengthening his legs. The guy works. He can be a solid backup big.
Garza does not move his feet n the paint, and if he can, why not do it for Iowa, who gave him their all as fans? Fullcourt speed is a straw man standard.
Cripes Alex, Lavine was not galvanizing, and nobody relevant said Mobley was a center.
Cripes x%, you’re going after Alex’s choice of the word “galvanizing,” for real? Hopefully because you’re mixing it up with “polarizing” and not because you’re that confident about how LaVine feels about his Olympic experience.
You look at this like Lavine was or is galvanized. In that case you could be right. But I did not read it that way, due mostly to the likely lack of anyone in the story actually saying “galvanizing”. It’s an outsider opinion, likely taken lazily from a list of colorful descriptors writers should use to perk up their pieces. If someone did say it, it should be in quote marks.
It doesn’t even rise to the level of opinion because Alex does not come out and say it plainly, but hides it near to the subject but still a safe distance away.
I mean who or what is galvanizing or galvanized, and when? Still? Why leave the word floating there, hiding?
“Derozan [thinks] LaVine will see his play improve thanks to a galvanizing Summer Olympics stint in Tokyo”
Simply changing the “a” to a “his” would have helped me get a different point. But to me the wording points to a random bserver being galvanized or not, more than a player. As one, I would say Lavine did well, but was not shocking or moving, and was not the best US guard (Holiday) or player (Durant).
“Galvanize” is a pretty hot word, should mean something leading to fast reaction.
Wikipedia: (figuratively) To shock or stimulate into sudden activity, as if by electric shock.
Synonyms: animate, startle, urge
Mirriam-Webster: charge, electrify, excite, exhilarate, intoxicate, pump up, thrill, titillate, turn on
Well good question!
Do you really care here. Or you that kid that says. Why ,,, why all the time.
An athlete develops over time. Seems to me his progression is still going. I know cause I’ve seen it and done it. You should try and see the bright side. Instead of just trying to prove me wrong.
He lost over 35 LBs. He moves much better than he ever did at Iowa now. And he was ONLY player of the year there. And you want to talk about the past. Every college player or rookie who makes the jump to NBA. All you getting this, ALL know they have to improve. Some do it and know where they need most help. But you can live in your negativity and wait for all to fail. I mean what else you go to do RIGHT.
I do say why all the time. I do not know what you are doing or often, trying to say, such as in that last sentence.
Yes, prospects had better work; who said otherwise. Yes, some will get good enough some not. It is their job, not some team’s or some development program. So what’s your point, why be against saying where a player stands.
If espn says a Garza interview is coming up, I will change the station, because he might start blubbering again. There is nothing to do about players that will not move their feet; they don’t get it; they cannot connect mentally to them. I did not get it myself as a player until way too late. Coaches never said, make the connection, they just said run sprints.
That is where Garza is at, based on his comments— sprints. It won’t work if he does sprints better once the ball rolls out. He will be left standing, like Cockburn at Illinois.
Tap his shoulder, make him dance, if you want to help so much.