Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, one of the best shot-blockers in the league, was named the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday.
Mobley ranked sixth in the NBA with a career-best 1.59 blocked shots per game.
“It feels great,” Mobley said in an interview on TNT Thursday night. “… My movement at this size I feel like (is) unordinary but it just feels amazing to finally get this award.”
Mobley received 35 first-place votes and 285 total points in balloting by a panel of 100 voters. Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (25 first-place votes, 197 votes) was second and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (15, 154) placed third. Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort (11, 109) and Houston’s Amen Thompson (9, 93) round out the top five.
In his fourth NBA season, Mobley, the Cavaliers star forward appeared in his first All-Star Game this year on his way to setting career highs in points (18.5) and free throw attempts (4.3), while also averaging 9.3 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game.
One of just four players to have notched 200 steals and 400 blocked shots over his four years in the league, Mobley helped Cleveland amass the best record (64-18) and top seed in the Eastern Conference as the team ranked third in the league in percentage points defense.
After being selected third overall in the 2021 draft out of Southern California, Mobley, 23, was a member of the NBA’s All-Rookie team in 2021-22 and the All-Defensive team in 2022-23.
Per ESPN, an escalator in Mobley’s contract moves his contract from 25 percent of the team’s cap up to 30 percent should he win DPOY. That increase will bump Mobley’s cap number from $38.7 million to $46.4 million next season and pay him an expected $45 million more over the life of his current contract, set to expire in 2030.
The increase puts Cleveland over the second apron for 2025-26 with $219 million in expected salary.
–Field Level Media
