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The Cleveland Cavaliers selected USC C Evan Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Cavs finished 13th in the Eastern Conference last season with a record of 22-50. It’s their best finish in a few seasons, as they won only 19 games in the two previous years as well. Of course, that was preceded by four straight appearances in the NBA Finals with LeBron James leading the pack, of which they only were able to win once in 2015-16. But the low finish is nothing new for the Cavs in recent years. They were part of that four-team blockbuster trade back in January that saw James Harden head to the Nets, while the Cavs received Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince from Brooklyn and sent Dante Exum over to the Rockets.
Cleveland has some potentially giant moves to make during this offseason, as it’s been reported that the team’s leading scorer from last season Collin Sexton isn’t likely to be offered a max contract extension and could be traded away before next season starts. He averaged 24.3 points per game throughout 60 appearances last season and was by far the Cavs’ best player, so it’s a little surprising that they seem willing to part with him so soon. He’s under contract for one more year, though, so it’s possible that he could be sticking around for a bit longer if they can’t make an optimal deal happen.
Cleveland Cavaliers 2021 NBA Draft picks
No. 3, first round: Evan Mobley, C, USC
Fantasy basketball outlook
Evan Mobley — The Cavaliers add another versatile big in Mobley, who has crazy length and size as a 7-footer. Cleveland is fine adding Mobley even though the team already has a young center in Jarrett Allen. The Cavs could also look to move Collin Sexton some time during the offseason. We’ll see if the Cavs are OK starting both Mobley and Allen in the front court. The fact Allen is on the team and will eat up a lot of minutes hurts Mobleys initial fantasy value. We’ll have to see how the Cavs roster looks heading into 2021-22. Mobley may not have much initial value in fantasy basketball as a result. His upside is pretty high though.