Cavs HC Says Evan Mobley Should Be in NBA MVP Conversation In Next '2-3 Years'

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson isn't shying away from setting the bar quite high for forward Evan Mobley.

"I don't want to put pressure on him, but in the next two-to-three years he should be in the MVP conversation," Atkinson said during the broadcast of his team's Summer League game against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.

On the surface, the MVP conversation may seem like quite the ask for Mobley.

However, he is just 24 years old and finished 10th in the MVP voting during the 2024-25 campaign. He also took home the Defensive Player of the Year, made the All-Star Game for the first time in his career and was named a member of the All-NBA Second Team.

It was the exact type of season the Cavaliers were surely envisioning when they made him a franchise cornerstone with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft and underscored just how bright Mobley's future is if he continues to ascend on an individual level.

In order to be a realistic MVP candidate, though, he would surely have to bolster his scoring and overall rebounding numbers.

He averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and 37 percent from deep last season. A double-double average with better than 20 points a night and more of the same elite defensive play might be the bare minimum to propel him into such discussions.

Fair or not, it also might be difficult to be seen as a legitimate MVP candidate if he isn't even the go-to option on his own team.

Donovan Mitchell finished fifth in MVP voting as an All-NBA First Team selection last season and will surely be the one Cleveland continues to turn toward in crunch time and key moments. He is the face of the franchise at this moment and a major reason the Cavaliers finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Despite that record, they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers in just five games. Indiana had more high-level depth and made it clear Cleveland will need others outside of just Mitchell to deliver in such moments.

Mobley elevating his game yet again to MVP-level play could provide that boost the team was missing in the playoffs.