Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley make All-NBA Teams
Mitchell and Mobley were recognized for their outstanding play this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley were named to an All-NBA team on Friday evening. Mitchell made All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. Mobley made All-NBA Second Team. It was the first time in Mobley’s career that he made an All-NBA Team.
This is the third time that two Cavaliers received All-NBA honors in the same season. The other two were Mark Price and Brad Daugherty in 1991-92 and LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in 2014-15.
Mitchell joined Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Jayson Tatum on All-NBA First Team.
All-NBA Second Team was comprised of Mobley, Jalen Brunson, Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, and James.
Darius Garland received one vote for All-NBA Second Team and three votes for All-NBA Third Team, but missed out on making an All-NBA team by a wide margin.
Mitchell and Mobley deserved these honors. This was Mitchell’s most impressive regular season. He scaled his game back throughout the year to fit into Kenny Atkinson’s egalitarian offense. This meant less playing time and a slightly lower usage than the year before.
That didn’t affect Mitchell’s counting stats too much. He finished the regular season averaging 24 points, five assists, and 4.5 rebounds on .443/.368/.823 shooting splits.
Mitchell also became just the third Cavalier to make All-NBA First Team, joining LeBron James (eight times) and Mark Price (once).
Mobley had by far the most successful year of his career. He’ll leave the season having made his first All-Star Game, won his first Defensive Player of the Year, and made his first All-NBA team. This is on top of being named to the All-Defensive Team.
As impressive as this year was from Mobley, he still has room to grow. He’s shown that he has the skills to continue to expand his offensive game to another level. Mobley has the talent and work ethic to turn a weakness like his outside shooting into a strength. It’ll be interesting to see what he adds to his game for next season.
Mobley finished the season averaging 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on .557/370/.725 shooting splits.
With the selection, Mobley became just the fifth Cavalier to receive an All-NBA honor. He joined James (10 times), Price (four times), Mitchell (three times), Daugherty (once), and Irving (once).