Isaiah Mobley: 2023 SL MVP

guitarguy said:

Nepotism or not...I don't hate the pick, but I actually wouldn't have got him specifically because it is Evan's brother. It's literally a distraction to Evan.

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Exactly.

What if Isaiah literally never gets any meaningful playing time, only some humiliating garbage time minutes? I mean... this is Evan's big brother, whom he presumably loves and respects. What if it starts getting embarrassing for them both? The role of a victory cigar is not easy, particularly when you're older than many of the rotation players. What then?

IMO this was a tremendously unwise decision that the Cavs will come to regret. It's obvious that Isaiah will not sniff the rotation. Again, he's not an NBA talent. And because the nepotism factor is always out in the open, any minutes he actually gets will be marked with an asterisk, which could harm the chemistry of the team.

Why create this distraction? I don't get it. Evan doesn't need his brother on the roster – he's in line for a humongous 2nd contract anyway, and he will sign it whatever happens.

sailfish said:

If only it were that simple…

Isaiah Mobley was a nepotism pick, no if’s ands or but’s about it. He wouldn’t gone undrafted if we hadn’t taken him. He’ll make the squad because he’s Evan’s brother and because he was a draft pick. I’ll reserve judgement on this one, but I just hated bypassing more talented players.

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No shit. But he’s still tall and can shoot. There’s a lot of garbage bigs in the league who stick around because they can shoot. He just has to want it. We’ll see if he has his brothers work ethic.

Evan and Isaiah on the Cavs. Josh and Bo Naylor eventually on the Guardians. Each Cleveland sports team could have a brother pairing if the Browns trade for Nick's brother Bradley.

He couldn’t remotely handle Christian Koloko. Not sold on him as a player, but those two guys are super close and I think he’s supposed to be a good dude and a smart player. Fine with him as a chemistry and practice player. Wouldn’t have bothered drafting him myself, but I get it.

guitarguy said:

Nepotism or not...I don't hate the pick, but I actually wouldn't have got him specifically because it is Evan's brother. It's literally a distraction to Evan. Whether they get along or not, whether they are mature or not, having competitive siblings together in a workspace seems like it never really works very well... oh well. Hopefully Isaiah will be the bigger brother and just try to be supportive of him in any way he can, even if it means not doing as well himself.

I love my siblings but I'm so glad I don't see them at work every day. We would kill each other.

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They played together in college and were great. Hell, they've played basketball together their whole lives.

Not everyone has the same relationship with their siblings.

I didn't want the team to draft Isaiah because I feel like if we eventually have to cut him it could cause Evan to get upset especially depending on the timing of cutting Isaiah. But to those saying he's not an NBA player. I wouldn't go that far would he have gotten drafted if not for us? Who knows. But you can say that for every late 2nd round pick. Would he have gotten a chance at this level? Yes. He has some skills and size. He's not the best athlete but he's smart. Those type of players survive on the end of the bench in the NBA and sometimes even become back of the rotation role players.

I am curious. I don't see why he can't play

Heat Check said:

He won't be anywhere near the rotation next season.

When you're a 6'10'' dude with good length who spent three years playing against undersized opponents but was still mocked to be either undrafted or a late 2nd round selection, you're… bad. Really bad. I'm sorry.

I know it's pretty easy to find cheap but serviceable backup bigs from various trash heaps these days, but it's not quite this easy.

This is just a present to the Mobley family. Like an advance bonus on top of Evan's inevitable max extension. If not for the Cavs, Isaiah would be heading to Belgium or Iceland. He should give 50% of his salary to his little bro.

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So Dean Wade is bad, really bad? Lamar Stevens is bad, really bad? Should we just cut those guys?

Let's just cut anyone that was picked in the 2nd round.

This is a bad take to claim that Mobley is really bad. We've seen Wade is rotational and he wasn't drafted. Your take on Mobley is much worse than Mobley will end up being.

Heat Check said:

Exactly.

What if Isaiah literally never gets any meaningful playing time, only some humiliating garbage time minutes? I mean... this is Evan's big brother, whom he presumably loves and respects. What if it starts getting embarrassing for them both? The role of a victory cigar is not easy, particularly when you're older than many of the rotation players. What then?

IMO this was a tremendously unwise decision that the Cavs will come to regret. It's obvious that Isaiah will not sniff the rotation. Again, he's not an NBA talent. And because the nepotism factor is always out in the open, any minutes he actually gets will be marked with an asterisk, which could harm the chemistry of the team.

Why create this distraction? I don't get it. Evan doesn't need his brother on the roster – he's in line for a humongous 2nd contract anyway, and he will sign it whatever happens.

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Presumably there were discussions with .... you know.... people who actually know the brothers about how this would work out. There were probably also conversations with team psychologists, and with USC coaching staff (who have worked with them together before).

This can work out super-well --- it can also backfire. It depends entirely on what their relationship is like, and their attitude towards the situation.

Unlike watching how a player performs on the court (where fans can have some idea of what works and what doesn't) -- I think this (like medicals) is something that we have absolutely no idea about.

Fedor's article says he will be converted to a two-way

If there was a dislike button I'd be mashing it for some of the takes in this thread. We've already hashed this out and I've previously staked my position of being in favor of this.

I strongly disagree with those predicting this to have a negative outcome. There is no sibling rivalry going on here, the pecking order was established by external evaluating factors. The Mobley family is apparently a very strong, well functioning unit based on what info is available. You know there have been conversations to feel this thing out. Q-Tip stated it well, this in not an experiment, it's a known quantity. Yes this is an intended concession to the whole family and tell me on what planet is that a bad thing if it can be justified for basketball reasons as well?

Isaiah is a 6'10" player who has competed at a very high level, who has skills. If he replaced Ed Davis on the roster for the next decade with playing time varying according to need and fit, who is going to say the young man can't help towards winning games? I can make plenty of arguments supporting this move that trump arguments against it.

Heat Check said:

Exactly.

What if Isaiah literally never gets any meaningful playing time, only some humiliating garbage time minutes? I mean... this is Evan's big brother, whom he presumably loves and respects. What if it starts getting embarrassing for them both? The role of a victory cigar is not easy, particularly when you're older than many of the rotation players. What then?

IMO this was a tremendously unwise decision that the Cavs will come to regret. It's obvious that Isaiah will not sniff the rotation. Again, he's not an NBA talent. And because the nepotism factor is always out in the open, any minutes he actually gets will be marked with an asterisk, which could harm the chemistry of the team.

Why create this distraction? I don't get it. Evan doesn't need his brother on the roster – he's in line for a humongous 2nd contract anyway, and he will sign it whatever happens.

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why is it obvious he will not sniff the rotation ? Have you seen some of the back-up centers in this league. He has played at a high level all his life
You do not think that the FO did not have long talks with Evan to see if he signed off on it. He don't think the FO told Evan he is not guaranteed anything. You dont think a phone call was made to USC to ascertain the two together.

Lets just see what he has first

I think some of you are making to big of a deal about getting him... The style we were winning with, was an athletic team game on offense and defense and it sounds like he can get into the rotation as a bench player. He wasn't drafted to be a starter and I doubt there will ever be any issues between the brothers...

Other than wasting a pick if he truly can't play, I see no negatives about this signing. Evan and his dad signed off on this.

Heat Check said:

When you're a 6'10'' dude with good length who spent three years playing against undersized opponents but was still mocked to be either undrafted or a late 2nd round selection, you're… bad. Really bad. I'm sorry.

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I get your point, you are saying he's not NBA quality, but I get a good laugh out of every arm chair GM who calls these guys "really bad". I mean, I'm really bad. Guys that got drafted last night? I'd love to see what you'd think of him if he played with you on a rec league team. You'd call him "cheat code" or something like that.

The pick wasn't completely out of nowhere. There were a number of mock drafts that had him going in the middle of the second round.

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