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can evan mobley become the cavaliers' top offensive threat?

when the training camp opened, the cleveland cavaliers ranked among the best in the league with the continuity of their lineup. 97% of the regular season playing time in the 23-24 season was contributed by players who were still in the lineup. 12 players had at least 300 minutes of playing time last season. all come back.

in may, the cavaliers won a playoff series for the first time in 31 years without lebron james. however, it took them seven games to defeat the orlando magic (the magic won two key victories in the series), and then they were eliminated in five games by the boston celtics in the eastern conference semifinals.

the new season will be donovan mitchell's third season with the cavaliers (mitchell signed a contract extension in july), and the cavaliers have two reasons for optimism. first, they made a coaching change, hoping that kenny atkinson would lead the team to better integrate the performance of the core players. more importantly, 23-year-old evan mobley will enter his fourth season, and he is expected to make a huge leap on the offensive end.

the two are interrelated. if mobley can become a more offensively versatile player, he will be a better fit alongside center jarrett allen.

last season, the cavaliers' offensive performance was better when allen played alone, but the team's offensive efficiency declined when mobley and allen played together, or only mobley without allen.

mobley doesn't need to be a scorer like kevin durant on the offensive end, but only 10.7% of his shots last season came from beyond the arc. he needs to increase the number of three-pointers to better match up with allen. complements the cavaliers' guards. when he's alone without allen, mobley can be more of an inside threat, threatening opponents with runs down the floor or at the elbow.

he's shown he has some real offensive skills, but now it's time for mobley to put it all together and become a scorer the cavaliers can rely on every game. (nba)