Big man in his fourth year Evan Mobley is having the best season of his career at 31-4 Cavaliers and a strong argument for considering All-Stars, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor writes in a subscriber-only article. The Cavs have an impressive net rating of +16.0 when Mobley is on the court, compared to a team-worst +4.4 when he sits.

“He took this step” Cavalier Guard Donovan Mitchell said of his teammate. “Everyone asked and he took this step. It’s beautiful to see. This is the worst thing that will happen to Evan, and it’s not too shabby. He’s an all-star. He will be in San Francisco in February.”

In conversation with RG.org’s Grant Afseth, Cavaliers forward Georges Niang agreed with Mitchell’s assessment and compared Mobley’s skills to those of Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett. While Niang raved about Mobley’s development, he argued that there are actually four Cavaliers – Mitchell, Mobley, Darius GarlandAnd Jarrett Allen – who deserve to be at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.

“When do we celebrate the victory? These guys are sacrificing stats to help us win.” Niang told Afseth. “This is not an individual sport, but All-Star is an individual award. Donovan, Evan, Darius and JA are all-stars. Sharing the wealth and being a team player does not diminish their abilities.”

In an interesting and wide-ranging conversation with Afseth, Niang also discussed Mitchell’s commitment to Cleveland, making it clear that the five-time All-Star showed that commitment to the franchise long before he signed a multi-year contract extension in the 2024 offseason.

“Donovan makes this his home” Niang said. “He even called Max (Strus) and I have free rein during (2023) to get us here. When your star player wants to be here and recruit others, something special happens.”

Here’s more from around Central:

• Addressing the Bulls“Potential trade deadline plans, head coach.” Billy Donovan reiterated Monday that the front office is considering everything and nothing is imminent, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Donovan also shared a tenet of his current roster-building philosophy. “If we want to keep playing (a fast-paced style), you can’t have eight guys.” Donovan said. “There’s no way you can last this way and this quickly. So how do we build instead of focusing on adding one or two people where there are 10 or 12 people? (Then) if you lose a man, you will not bear this great blow. This is what I shared with them in terms of my thoughts.”
• dollar star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a laceration to his right pinky finger during Monday’s game, writes Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Head coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the game that the problem “definitely” seemed to affect Antetokounmpo’s ball-handling, but the two-time MVP stayed in the game and downplayed the problem after he was stitched up. “I’m doing well,” he said. “My finger is kind of numb, but I’m fine. I played the second half but I’m fine. Just stitches. I won’t think about it too much.”
• The two-way contracts Ron Harper Jr. And Tolu Smith signed with the Pistons have both been for two years, tweets Spotrac’s Keith Smith. Unless they are released or promoted before their respective contracts expire, Harper and Smith would be eligible for restricted free agency in 2026.