INDEPENDENCE — The Cavaliers' first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks forced them to take a hard look in the mirror and figure out what needs to change over the summer.
For Evan Mobley , that means hitting the weights. And it sounds like he'll be arranging it so he won't have to the leave the comfort of his own home to do that.
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The Cavs were out-muscled by the more physical, more aggressive Knicks throughout the series. It led to mounting frustration as Knicks center Mitchell Robinson grabbed offensive rebounds almost at will. It'll be the stuff of nightmares for the Cavs' bigs for a while.
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There were issues all over the roster. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland couldn't consistently score on the offensive end. The issues with the No. 3 spot in the starting lineup couldn't be solved. And, finally, Jarrett Allen and Mobley were knocked around inside the paint.
"We just had some mental lapses and we just didn't match the physicality like we should have," Mobley said. "We talked about it and everything, but we just didn't get it done at the end of the day."
Mobley's skill set gives him sky-high potential, and the Cavs see him as a budding star in the league. In his second year, he scored 16.2 points per game and finished third in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting . But at 7-0 and 215 pounds, he's looking to add to his frame heading into year three by adding an in-home weight room.
Mobley shared that with Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman when the two met for an end-of-the-season conversation.
"The development has continued, and I think he wants that. He wants those expectations. He feels the urgency," Altman said. "He's already investing in a home gym for himself this offseason, which is remarkable for a guy his age to be thinking about, 'OK, I need to get stronger, I need to get better.' And so, there's real upside obviously with him, and that's the balance between developing a young roster and also trying to compete. We're trying to do both."
The Cavs know Mobley is a crucial component to their long-term future, as well as their hopes of advancing past the first round of the playoffs a year from now. The skill set is there. The hope is that a bulked-up Mobley can reach the next level.
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"When you have conversations with Evan and the first thing he's talking about is not basketball related, but physical related, it's a really good conversation to have," Altman said. "That's not Evan Mobley saying, I need this, this and this. That's Evan saying I want to get better by being in the gym, being in the weight room. That's a really healthy conversation, ones that we're going to get behind from a bigger picture [standpoint]."
Mobley tried to make some headway on that front during the season, but it's a difficult balance to strike. This summer, though, he believes the real progress can be made. It's priority No. 1 for Mobley before the team returns for training camp.
"I feel like I tried to change that too during the season," Mobley said. "It's hard to do it during the season. You can see changes, but you probably won't see significant changes. So this summer is when you really lock in on everything you want to get done."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs offseason: Evan Mobley builds in-home gym after sour end to 2023
