Cavs Duo “Steps Ahead” Of Where It Was At Start Of Training Camp

With their final preseason game in the rearview mirror, the Cleveland Cavaliers can now look toward the ones that count. On Wednesday evening, they’ll be taking on the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center to open the 2023-24 campaign on the road.

Despite a somewhat late scratch with Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen missing his fourth straight game with a left ankle bone bruise, the Cavs showed some more flashes running their newer, faster offense.

Donovan Mitchell looked like himself for the first time this preseason, and Cleveland got out in transition a bunch thanks to its active defense.

In addition, there’s an intriguing connection to monitor in its early stages: Max Strus and Evan Mobley. Undoubtedly imperfect and a work in progress, there have been a couple of slip-ups and late reactions. But when it has been successful, it’s clear how effective the duo can be together. (Strus compared its potential to his two-man game with Bam Adebayo in Miami.)

Friday night, Mobley found Strus for a triple on the left wing.

Inversely, off a swing pass up from Dean Wade up top, Strus opened the game with an easy entry pass to Mobley on the block.

And just like that, we're underway here in Indy with EV4 putting us on the board!@evanmobley | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/gKzifYEQR3
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 20, 2023

He had another assist to the big man in the paint later as well. Last week against the Orlando Magic, Strus found a cutting Mobley for a lay-in; that wasn’t quite like what we saw against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, though.

“I think Evan’s gonna be very big for us this year, and I’m gonna look to use him a lot,” Strus told Bally Sports Great Lakes at Friday’s shootaround in Indiana. “I think our two-man game together, playing off each other is gonna be very good for both of us. That’s something that’s gonna continue to get ironed out throughout the season.

“We’re already steps ahead of where we were the first day of preseason, so I’m looking forward to putting it into a game and just keep building on that throughout the year.”

When Mobley will be most effective with Strus is learning how close to the hip he likes the ball on dribble handoffs and timing when he comes around. Once they get that down, Mobley can then start faking the DHO to face-up or put it on the deck.

Strus on the other hand will have plenty of chances to find Mobley over the top or in the pocket. He can also stay right where he is to pull a quick trigger three or guide an entry pass to the seven-footer — which, again, we saw from the first play of Friday's contest.

Be cognizant of this pairing and its development because if it gets rolling, opposing defenses are going to have a hard time handling not only that, but what it opens up for Mitchell, Garland and all of the Cavs’ offensive weapons.