Evan Mobley's Trainer Reveals What Stopped The Cavaliers Going On A Deep Playoff Run Last Season

Last season was a very successful one for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the team landed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference on the back of a dominant regular season. Unfortunately, they weren't able to go deep in the postseason after losing to the Indiana Pacers, with the team once again failing to live up to their potential.

Sure, part of that was due to injury, especially to Darius Garland, but on top of that, their tactics down the stretch were highly questionable. That is something brought up recently by forward Evan Mobley’s trainer, stating that if they had changed the focal point offensively, things could have been different.

“I hope I don’t say this the wrong way, but I think there were a lot of times last year where if the focal point would’ve changed in certain matchups, they could’ve been looking at a different playoff run. But I understand Donovan Mitchell is a perennial All-Star. But it’s like how it was with Kobe [Bryant]. He can let Shaq do his thing, and then it’s his time later. It’s about finding that balance where this kid [Mobley] just scored 16 [points] in the first half against Indiana, and we didn’t see him in the second half and the game got away from them.”

Sure, Mobley has improved offensively in recent years, but for his trainer to state that he should have been the focal point is an interesting take, as Donovan Mitchell is one of the top offensive threats in the entire NBA. Ultimately, if this team can strike a good balance, they'll be a very tough team to beat again in 2025–26, but if they can't find those adjustments, it's easy to see why they may struggle come playoff time again.