OKC Thunder: Josh Giddey throws his hat in ROY race

No. 2 – Evan Mobley – Cleveland Cavaliers

The final two rookies on this list are in my humble opinion light years ahead of their peers. Both could honestly find themselves making an All-Defensive team in their rookie seasons. That might sound like hyperbole but trust me it’s not!

Despite Evan Mobley needing to gain strength and weight, he’s still impacting the defensive side of the court at an unprecedented level.

Mobley is averaging 13.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.4 blocks. Heading into week three he had two double-doubles (since then he’s collected back-to-back double-doubles).

Although his frame is slight he’s impacting plays and that has more to do with his intelligence. Versus guards, he has the ability to slide his feet and keep them in front of him extending his arms so they are hesitant to try to shoot over him. Yet, it’s against the taller, bigger players where he shines using positioning and quickness to deflect balls.

As a rookie, he’s on the leaderboard for contested shots, and can be found on hustle stat categories in the top 50 of screen assists, screen assists points, and offensive loose balls recovered.

His peers are already singing his praises with Anthony Davis suggesting he reminds him of himself.

He’s so good defensively it’s not a stretch to imagine he could end up on one of the All-Defense teams if he keeps this up. And even more unusual. the next player on the list could join him.