CLEVELAND, Ohio — Darius Garland just turned 24, and Evan Mobley (22) could still be a senior in college. But as both Cavs stars prepare for their second playoff appearance, neither player’s birthday will count as an explanation for underperformance.
The kid gloves are off, as they have been since the Cavs mortgaged their future to acquire Donovan Mitchell two offseasons ago. Last year’s playoff loss should’ve forced the young core to grow up fast. And last offseason’s roster tweaks created a friendlier, spacier environment for both of the future franchise cornerstones. So ahead of their playoff matchup against the Orlando Magic, here’s to the last invocation of “inexperience” as an excuse.
Buck up, baby deer, and don’t look into the lights. It’s either time for both Garland and Mobley to show what they learned from last season’s failed postseason exam, or it’s time to examine their star potential under a harsher light.
Stories by Jimmy Watkins
To review, Garland averaged 3.6 turnovers and posted an effective field goal percentage (51.3%) worse than 2022-23 Jordan Poole during the 2023 playoff loss to the Knicks, during which he was also hunted on defense. Mobley averaged fewer than 10 points per game (9.8) on worse than 50% shooting (45.8%) and, alongside Jarrett Allen, could not stop New York’s offensive rebounding barrage.
Together, they raised big questions about Cleveland’s young core, with one caveat: The Cavs needed time to answer. Mobley couldn’t have prepared himself for playoff physicality. Garland could learn from his experience. Neither player could know what they’d never learned before their first playoff run.
But now that same logic applies to the Magic, who enters Saturday’s Game 1 with the NBA’s youngest playoff roster and 26 combined games of playoff experience among their top eight rotation players (all 26 come from 11-year vet Gary Harris). Most importantly, top scorers Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have never appeared on this stage (or anything close to it), which means they don’t know how to meet the moments that playoff basketball creates.
But if last spring is any indicator, neither do Garland and Mobley, and it’s up to them to change that perception. Both players were graded on a curve for their first playoff exam, but now the guardrails are gone. The Cavs have added veteran shooters (Max Strus, Georges Niang) and enforcers (Tristan Thompson, Marcus Morris Sr.) designed to help them on test day. Mobley and Garland have five painful games’ worth of lessons from which to draw this time around. And as a result, both players have lost youth’s benefit of the doubt.
Don’t confuse that with lost confidence from the front office. In fact, heightened expectations might signal the opposite. When the Cavs traded for Mitchell in 2022 and paid Strus $64 million via sign-and-trade last summer, they telegraphed their belief in youngsters like Garland and Mobley. But in the same breath, they telegraphed their intent to leave learning curves behind, which means leaving playoff newbies like Orlando in the dust.
Wagner doesn’t turn 23 until August. Banchero (21) could still be a junior in college. And Orlando, unlike the Cavs, has no playoff failure from which to learn or draw fuel.
So when Garland and Mobley take the floor against the Magic, the Cavs expects to see the difference experience makes. They felt it last spring, and they gave their young players time (and grace) to learn from their failure.
Now the Cavs need to see those lessons applied. Garland needs to score efficiently and value possessions. Mobley needs to rebound and play with force. And if they can’t, then the Cavs might need to reconsider the ceilings on both players, no matter how few birthday candles either has counted.
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