Cavs make critical decision on Isaiah Mobley’s future

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a decision on forward Isaiah Mobley’s future, as they decided to not extend a qualifying offer to him, according to Hoops Wire’s Sam Amico.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers have decided not to extend a qualifying offer to power forward Isaiah Mobley, making him an unrestricted free agent, per reports and Hoops Wire sources,” Amico wrote.

There is still a chance that Mobley could be back with the Cavs or with their G League team, the Canton Charge, but he is able to test the open market to see if he has any suitors as well. Mobley spent the past two seasons on two-way deals with the Cavs.

It’s possible that the Cavs wanted to free up a two-way spot to sign a younger player to develop since Mobley is now 24 years old.

The Cavs took Mobley with the No. 49 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft after he spent his collegiate career with the University of Southern California (USC).

In three seasons for the Trojans, Mobley averaged 10.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3. He had the best season of his career in the 2021-22 campaign, averaging 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

Mobley played sparingly for Cleveland over the past two seasons, appearing in 22 total games. He averaged 2.5 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game. He also spent time in the G League to work on his game, and it’s possible that there is a team out there that would be willing to give him a two-way deal this offseason.

The former second-round pick has family ties with the Cavs, as he is the brother of star big man Evan Mobley. While the Cavs may have wanted to keep the brothers together to appease Evan Mobley, it appears that the roster crunch could make Isaiah Mobley a casualty this offseason.

Cleveland is looking to add as much help to the roster as possible, especially since guard Donovan Mitchell committed to the franchise by signing an extension this offseason.

After making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, the Cavs would love to make a deep playoff run in the 2024-25 campaign. Cleveland was knocked out of the postseason in the second round by the Boston Celtics last season.

It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for Isaiah Mobley in his professional basketball career.