Was Evan Mobley robbed of the Rookie of the Year award?

TORONTO, ON – MARCH 24: Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors and Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers battle for a rebound during the first half of their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on March 24, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Was Evan Mobley robbed of the Rookie of the Year award?. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

With news that Scottie Barnes has been named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year for 2021-22, one person who can certainly feel aggrieved is Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The third overall pick had a superb year, as he started all 69 games he appeared in, averaging 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest.

Injury struck at the wrong time, both for Mobley and the Cavaliers as a whole, and what was the surprise package of the season slid all the way into the Play-In Tournament, and then out of the postseason equation altogether. Even though they were playing with house money, it was a disappointing end to a fun year for the group.

Evan Mobley being named Rookie of the Year could have softened the blow, and it would have been deserved as well, so was he robbed of the award?

In short, no. But it is never as simple as that. Barnes had a similar year statistically for the Toronto Raptors as they secured a playoff spot (where they are currently hanging on against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round). If you look at the bigger picture, there are two reasons Evan Mobley should have won the award. Reasons with which Cavaliers fans can point to in any argument.

The first is that Barnes was drafted to the perfect situation in Toronto. It might be unfair to hold this against him, but head coach Nick Nurse has done such a great job of setting up a system whereby whoever comes into it generally does what they’re supposed to, plays well, and keeps the machine rolling.

Barnes, of course, is better than just any random player they could have picked. He has the size, athleticism, and also the personality to be one of the leading guys for the Raptors for years to come. If you were to put money on it now, you would take the odds that he will make an All-Star team at least once.

He has plenty of talent around him, but admittedly, so does Mobley. Where it differs is that coach Nurse is brilliant at what he does, and the Raptors still have some holdovers from their 2019 title run. It is not as simple as saying that if they’d taken Jalen Suggs instead he would have won the award. But in Toronto, Barnes was set up to do well, as long as he played well, and he did.

If you’re looking for an even better reason that Mobley should have won the award, however, look no further than example number two. The Cavaliers, a franchise that has been stuck in mediocrity whenever LeBron James hasn’t been around for the last two decades, ranked fifth in defensive rating (108.5) during the regular season. Fifth.

The previous season, they ranked 25th (113.5). That is quite simply an amazing turnaround. As always, though, we need to look at the big picture. Darius Garland made a huge leap and was an All-Star. He was tenacious defensively, hounding other guards. Jarrett Allen was also an All-Star and might just be the most underrated player in the entire league. He helps so much manning the paint.

But you better believe Mobley played his part. Few rookies ever come in and have such a great understanding of the defensive end of the game the way that Mobley did. His body will still fill out some as time goes on, yet his timing and ability to get to the spots he needed to before the opponent meant he was usually able to outplay and outsmart them when defending them.

He wasn’t bullied either and displayed all of the tools to be a defensive scheme around for the next decade. He was comfortable on switches, and unlike Barnes had opponents petrified to drive into the lane or even take him on at various spots on the court most nights. Mobley did all of this and still averaged those aforementioned 15 points despite being far more limited offensively.

His three-point shooting (25 percent), free-throw shooting (66.3 percent), and even effective field goal percentage relative to the position he plays (52.2 percent) were really not good at all. Certainly, Barnes got the better of him in every one of those categories, yet the raw output was similar offensively, and Mobley literally had to be game-planned for on the defensive end after about 15 games.

As an added bonus, who would you rather build your franchise around for the next 10 years? Barnes has all of the tools you want in a modern player, and he is sure to be excellent. But guys like Evan Mobley come along less frequently, and if paired with the right players as the Cavaliers are currently trying to do, can be devastating. Full credit to Barnes on Rookie of the Year, but you can bet Mobley will be back with a vengeance next year after missing out on it.