Donovan Mitchell says he expects Evan Mobley to become top 5 player in NBA: ‘There’s a reason why I signed back’

Back in the summer, following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second-round exit in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, franchise star Donovan Mitchell’s future in Cleveland was seemingly up in the air.

However, Mitchell put concerns that he might not want to stick around with the Cavaliers to rest when he agreed to a three-year contract extension with the team in July.

While Mitchell had been mentally ready for months to ink an extension with the Cavs, he recently admitted that he opted to sign a deal to keep him in Cleveland for the long run in part because he’s so high on big man Evan Mobley and believes the 23-year-old will be among the top five players in the league at some point.

“I want to win so bad and there’s a reason why I signed back,” Mitchell told Cleveland.com. “I saw it, and I see it on a daily basis, with Evan’s potential. It’s like why not put yourself in that position to play with a guy I believe is going to be a top five player in this league? We know what J.A. (Jarrett Allen), myself and D.G. (Darius Garland) can do. We have been All-Stars. But Ev’s the guy we haven’t even scratched the surface with. It’s about empowering him and giving him the confidence.”

Mitchell also pointed out that it’s never been a question of talent with Mobley but rather self-confidence.

“When I signed back here my first intention was we need to get the most out of Ev,” Mitchell said. “Never played with a guy like Ev. So, how do we get the most out of that partnership? Saw it in that Boston series. He has the talent. It was more about him believing it on a nightly basis. I want him to think, ‘I’m that dude.’ Now you surround him with a guy like myself and it makes it tough on any defense. Just being on the floor with him allows him to kind of play a certain way. It’s allowed myself to grow too.”

In the second round of last year’s playoffs against a Boston Celtics team that went on to win the title, Mobley took his game to another level. He averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game against the storied franchise and also shot 62.7 percent from the field.

Mobley has seemingly carried over his momentum from that series against Boston into the 2024-25 campaign, as his two-way play has been key to the Cavaliers getting off to a historically strong start to the season. He is averaging a career-high 18.8 points per game to go along with 8.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest.

The big man has scored 20-plus points in five of his last seven games, and it’s likely no coincidence that Cleveland has been hotter than fish grease of late with Mobley giving the team some major scoring punch. The Cavaliers have won each of their last 10 contests, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are the only team in the NBA with a longer active winning streak right now at 15 games.

But Cleveland might need another big game from Mobley on Wednesday in order to keep its winning streak alive, as the Cavaliers will take on the torrid Thunder in what could shape up to be one of the most entertaining contests of the campaign to this point. Oklahoma City’s winning streak has the team within striking distance of the Cavaliers for the NBA’s best record.