Today’s injury news has gone from bad to worse for the Cavaliers. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), big man Evan Mobley will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is expected to be out for the next six-to-eight weeks.
The update on Mobley comes on the heels of a report stating that Cavs point guard Darius Garland will miss several weeks due to a fractured jaw.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Mobley has started all 169 games he has played for the Cavaliers since entering the league. This season, he’s averaging a double-double (16.0 points, 10.5 rebounds) to go along with 2.9 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.
However, after appearing in each of Cleveland’s first 21 games of the season, Mobley has missed the last four due to what the team had been referring to as left knee soreness. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the 22-year-old will have a loose body removed from that knee as part of his arthroscopic procedure.
As we outlined in our story on Garland’s injury, the Cavs are off to a disappointing 13-12 start this fall and don’t have a particularly deep roster, with guards Ricky Rubio (personal reasons) and Ty Jerome (ankle) having also missed most or all of the season so far.
With Mobley unavailable, forwards Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, and Dean Wade are among the candidates to see bumps in minutes, while deeper reserves like Tristan Thompson, Damian Jones, Emoni Bates, and Evan’s brother Isaiah Mobley figure to slide up the depth chart.
The Cavaliers have an open spot on their 15-man roster, but they’re less than $1MM away from the luxury tax line, so they’ll be reluctant to add much more salary to their books.
That should just about do it for the Cavs this season.
If there hovering around the play in when both of them comeback they will be fine.
You must be kidding. A play-in tournament win means facing Boston or Milwaukee in the 1st round. To progress this year they needed to win a First round series. Not likely now.
A lot of firepower is missing in the East right now.
Darius Garland
Evan Mobley
Zach LaVine
Ben Simmons
LaMelo Ball
Mitchell Robinson
Tyler Herro
Bam Adebayo
Simmons and Robinson shouldn’t be on this list.
Let’s replace “firepower” with “talent”
There is a Yahoo Sports report out that says Cleveland approached the Bulls about what it would take to get Zach LaVine …… The Bulls asked for Darius Garland.
The only positive is that JB is running out of reasons to keep Evan’s brother Isaiah on the bench.
Cavs have to step up. Next 20 gms are manageable. Strengthen the bench for the playoffs. It’s how you have to look at it.
Injuries always suck.
They need to unleash the beast and see what they really have in Bates. Allen needs to step up too.