Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley won the 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year award, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Mobley is the first player in Cavaliers history to win the award. Mobley averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals this season.
“It definitely was a goal of mine coming into this year,” Mobley said, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. “I put all the work in, so it’s a big day.”
As Fedor notes, Mobley ranked fifth in blocks and contested shots while ranking second in field-goal percentage allowed. He was the only player in the league with 50 or more games played to average more than 1.5 blocks while recording fewer than 2.0 fouls. The Cavs’ dropped 10 spots in defensive rating with Mobley off the floor.
The 6’11” big man beat out second-place finisher Dyson Daniels and third-place vote-getter Draymond Green. Lu Dort and Amen Thompson also received numerous first-place votes. Mobley ended up with 285 points, with 35 first-place votes, while Daniels ended with 197 and Green 154. View the full voting results here.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link), Mobley winning the award comes with significant financial implications. Mobley signed a five-year, $224.2MM rookie extension this past offseason that included language to significantly increase his salary if he were to win Defensive Player of the Year or make an All-NBA team.
Because he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, his total salary over the next five years will increase by about $44.8MM, from the original $224.2MM figure to roughly $269.1MM. That now leaves the Cavaliers with $219MM in projected salary in 2025/26, putting them over the second apron.