Kenny Atkinson makes bold Evan Mobley claim following forward’s career scoring night

Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley scored the most points he ever has in a regular-season game against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

He dropped 41 points on 16-of-23 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Mobley also contributed 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocked shots in Cleveland’s 14-point victory.

Mobley made history on Saturday in the sense that he became just the second Cavaliers player in franchise history to finish a contest with 40-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and five-plus made 3-pointers. After Mobley looked like an unstoppable force against Charlotte, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson dropped a bold take regarding the blossoming big man.

“He’s an elite player in this league,” Atkinson said of Mobley. “I mean, he’s a top — to me, top 20 and he could be in the top 10 easy.”

The rationale for Mobley having the potential to mold into a top-10 player in the NBA is there when diving into the young man’s two-way impact. He’s just 23 years old, yet he’s already shown that he can impact the game at a high level on both ends of the floor.

The offensive side of the ball is where folks first might look to for evidence of Mobley’s improvement as a player this season, and for good reason. He is averaging a career-high in points per game with 18.9 and on solid efficiency to boot, as he’s shooting 55.9 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from 3-point range.

But Mobley has made his presence felt on the offensive side of the ball in more ways than simply scoring. He has consistently generated extra possessions for Cleveland, considering he’s averaging 2.3 offensive rebounds per contest. On top of that, he’s dishing out 2.8 assists per game thus far in his fourth season in the league and has served as a decent playmaker in spurts.

Then, on the defensive end of the floor, he is averaging 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Mobley is a disruptive force on that side of the ball and maybe the best defender on a Cavs team with currently the top record in the NBA.

The play of Mobley has seemingly played a huge part in the Cavaliers’ success this season, and he probably will need to continue to star for Cleveland in order for the team’s title hopes to come to fruition next year.