Cleveland Cavaliers Face New Setback With Evan Mobley’s Injury

The Cleveland Cavaliers will now be without Mobley's service for a few weeks heading into February.

Jan 23, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) is introduced before the game between the Cavaliers and the Sacramento Kings at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered another midseason setback regarding one of their former All-Star players.

On Tuesday, the Cavaliers announced that forward Evan Mobley would be sidelined one to three weeks after straining his left calf during Monday’s 114-98 win over the Orlando Magic.

Cleveland announced this news on social media Tuesday afternoon after an MRI revealed the severity of Mobley’s injury.

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— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 27, 2026

The weeks that Mobley could miss may take him up through the All-Star break, which could benefit him in his recovery process to give him more time to get back up to speed for the second half of the season.

This marks Mobley’s second stint of missed time this season due to the same injury, which could raise questions as to whether Mobley was fully healed from his Grade 1 left calf strain he suffered back in December that held him out of action for almost two full weeks.

Mobley has been quite serviceable this season for Cleveland, averaging 17.9 points per game, accompanied by 8.8 rebounds with 4 assists per game. In Monday’s win over Orlando, Mobley played a large portion of the game, posting 20 points with 9 rebounds in 35 minutes, shooting 56% from the field. Mobley also became the fifth player in franchise history to record 500 blocks in his career in their win over Orlando Monday night.

His injury will provide more playing time for some of Cleveland’s depth pieces, with Dean Wade already seeing an uptick in minutes per game and more expected to come out of this. Nae’Qwan Tomlin has seen his fair share of minutes so far this season after being called up last season and could also see more playing time over the course of the next few weeks. Forward De'Andre Hunter is another name to watch for to fill in for Mobley during his absence.

Recent trade rumors have circled around the Cavaliers’ De’Andre Hunter as to whether he’s a candidate to be traded before the NBA trade deadline on February 5th. Hunter made it clear he doesn’t want to be traded from Cleveland amid trade rumors after his season hasn’t been as productive as many have hoped.

With Mobley’s injury, this could be the ideal time for Hunter to make strides and shut down any further speculation of a trade. Regardless of who sees the increase in playing time, it’s safe to say Cleveland has some reliable options to continue their recent trend of success.

The Cleveland Cavaliers currently have a 28-20 record on the season, with their west coast road trip on the horizon in early February set to be their biggest challenge faced up to this point.

Without Mobley, they’ll need Dean Wade, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, and De’Andre Hunter to contribute significantly during their road stretch. The Cavaliers will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday evening at Rocket Arena before they head to Phoenix for the start of their five-game road trip.