Like Giannis, Joel Embiid is a big fan of Evan Mobley

Last night, the Cavaliers stifled Joel Embiid, and Evan Mobley proved that he was a formidable “two-player”, able to weigh in on both sides of the court. Despite a rather light physique, he stood up to Embiid, and the latter promises him a great future in the NBA, to the point of sticking his name to the references of the genre. Comments that recall those of Giannis Antetokounmpo a few days ago.

“He has the opportunity,” said Joel Embiid, limited to 19 points on 6 of 16 shooting. “I like him a lot and I think he has a lot of potential. I think he can be one of the best interior players in the NBA. Who are we talking about in this case? (Nikola) Jokic. Towns. I think he can be as good (…) It’s a question of opportunities. If he has the chance to continue to make mistakes and learn from them and continue to improve, I think he can get to that level. But he’s already very good.

When Joel Embiid talks about opportunities, he means opportunities to show up, take over the game and be a leader. For now, Evan Mobley is a lieutenant, behind Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. But in Cleveland, they assure that he has the green light to express himself the way he wants.

“We tell him all the time that he can do whatever he wants offensively because he needs to be rewarded for what he does on defense,” Darius Garland explains. “When he gets in isolation and shoots off the dribble, we love that. I think we see him do that all the time in practice and we want him to be more aggressive and assertive on offense. It’s just a matter of believing in it because his arsenal is crazy!”

“We don’t want him to be pigeonholed and his volume of play to be reduced.”

Same sound of bell with JB Bickerstaff who has the chance to use him in 4 or 5, as the Heat used Chris Bosh before. Evan Mobley is a mobile, technical and versatile interior. He has everything to become one of the best.

“His potential is unlimited” summarizes the coach. “I think we’ve seen it a few times. There’s not much on the field that he can’t do. The more you watch him, and I think we’ve seen him, the more assertive he becomes. He looks for opportunities. If you combine his qualities with his hunter’s mentality, he’s going to be difficult to deal with. We don’t want him to be pigeonholed and have his volume of play reduced. Instead, we want him to thrive because we think he’s capable of it.”

One thing is for sure, Evan Mobley wants to challenge the greats, and his duel with Joel Embiid proves it. “He’s a competitor! I sometimes think that his calmness is deceptive, while I do not know anyone else with such a passion for competition” concludes his coach. “He is not afraid. He is ready to take on any challenge that is thrown at him. Embiid is an MVP-level player, one of the best pivots, and Evan has risen to the challenge.”

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