JULY 22: The signing is official, the team announced in a press release.
“We are thrilled to sign Evan to a long-term extension, solidifying his place as a cornerstone of our franchise,” team president Koby Altman said. “Evan has quickly established himself as one of the premier defensive players in the league, and we’ve only scratched the surface of his overall potential. Since drafting him, he only knows winning basketball and has proven to be pivotal to our team’s success. His exceptional work ethic, versatility, and commitment to excellence both on and off the court truly embody what it means to be a Cleveland Cavalier.
“We believe Evan’s best basketball is still ahead of him, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue building something special together for many years to come.”
JULY 20: Evan Mobley has agreed to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension with the Cavaliers, agents Joe Smith and Thad Foucher of Wasserman Basketball tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The deal includes $224MM in guaranteed money and contains Rose rule language that gives it the potential to be worth up to $269MM, Wojnarowski adds.
The extension will begin with a projected $38,661,750 salary for the 2025/26 season, according to Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Mobley’s salary will increase to $41,754,690, $44,847,630, $47,940,570 and $51,033,510 over the following four years while his percentage of the cap declines from 25% at the start to 22.5% in 2029/30.
Gozlan notes that the Cavaliers project to be over the tax threshold for 2025/26, but aren’t currently in danger of crossing into second apron territory.
Mobley has become one of the franchise cornerstones in Cleveland since being selected with the third pick in the 2021 draft. Although injuries limited him to 50 games last season, he scored 15.7 PPG and set career highs by averaging 9.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 58% from the field and 37.3% from three-point range.
Mobley will earn $11.2MM for the upcoming season in the final year of his rookie deal.
It’s the second significant signing of the summer for the Cavs, who inked Donovan Mitchell to a three-year extension earlier this month. Cleveland now has about $125MM committed to Mobley, Mitchell and Darius Garland for the 2025/26 season, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
Mobley becomes the fourth member of the 2021 draft class to receive a max extension, following Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Orlando’s Franz Wagner. Teams can sign their 2021 first-round picks to extensions until the day before the start of the regular season. The full list of players eligible for rookie scale deals can be found here.
Lotta money, he looked good as a rookie. They need to let him develop and be the clear 2nd guy on offense. They should also have a great interior defense.
I’m sure these insane contracts have nothing to do with the NBA having the worst viewership ratings in decades, and are now severely lacking behind the other big sports. Despite accessibility being astronomically easier, less people watch the NBA today than when Jordan played.
Is this even remotely true?
I’ve never seen the numbers but it seems as though the nba is exploding whilst the nfl and mlb are crumbling mainly due to limited access
Its half true but there’s context. NBA viewership is down by about half from its Jordan-era peak, but the number of viewers watching primetime television in general is down nearly half from just a decade ago — dropping from 112.9 million during the 2012-13 season to just 63.8 million in the most recent campaign.
The NBA is still the 2nd most watched sport in America. It has more viewership than MLB or the NHL.
However the NBA is on the rise globally. It’s viewership is now on par with the NFL worldwide.
The modern market is about consumption though, people will look at TV viewership and not take in account Social media and YouTube.
It’s not half true. Basketball, nor any other sport for that matter, has never been considered as part of the prime time lineup. The fact that Americans don’t consume TV during prime time, and instead use streaming services is utterly irrelevant to sports viewership. Not only this, but today streaming services make sports extremely accessible, especially out of market games, especially compared to the 90s. The total market consumption for television has increased since the 90s, only the delivery method has changed.
Nice try though.
In other words you’re saying “It’s not half true because you don’t it to be.”
Lol out of the big four US sports, NBA is the most popular worldwide. Nobody cares about the NFL outside the USA.
NBA is a global sport. Basketball is played pretty much everywhere.
The NBA is a world sport. It’s still exploding across the world.
Only haters do t get it …..
Yes Al that much is true. You can see it when Klay Thompson visits China because of his shoe deal and gets mobbed and swamped at his appearances.
You ever watch the redeem team. Kobe was a rock star among his teammates in China.
I don’t really expect someone who admits publicly to being a Knicks fan to have the mental capacity to understand what I’m saying. Thanks for playing though!
Yeah that’s insightful …….
you’re the poster child of “why do you come here” …..
if I wanted to hear from an aresole, if just flatulate ……. Go back to Uranus
They just got a huge tv deal which helps make these contracts. I don’t find the league as exciting as before, but they also stream more games. They have an 82 game season, like MLB very few check in until playoffs.
The NBA just sold a TV package for 7 billion dollars and you think they’re struggling? Im assuming you’re talking about the finals viewership and anyone paying attention could have told you nobody wanted to watch those games. It was pretty clear in May we were just wasting time until the Boston parade. A couple of good series in there but Dallas isn’t exciting and Boston is a juggernaut.
The NBA is fine buddy.
Max contracts for non-superstars, only in the NBA.
NBA wants to go back to “no player movement” and two stars per team. Or I should say, very little player movement among the stars.
For instance, no way the Cavs are making any trades with these massive deals.
The league is trying to be like yester-year when Bill Russell Bob Cousy and the rest of them played for the same team 10 years. I think old school fans liked cheering for the same guy on their home town team for years and years.
We shall see if this accomplishes their goal, but it’s my guess that’s what they’re trying to do.
This is true for years now and most gets it – parity, player sticking to their teams, etc
One (indirect) goal has been achieved, no repeat champs for years now ….. but there’s always trade-offs, one being the dwindling mid-tier contract players and that ratio will only get worse.
Years back, I was for the NBA reducing games/teams ……. but with the never-ending influx of players from all corners of the globe and all of the above, it might be time for the league to expand.
If he played on a big market team, he would be a superstar. This is just bias.
That’s incorrect. LeBron played there for many years and he was considered a superstar. Donovan Mitchell plays there and he’s considered a superstar and the Knicks have wanted him pretty badly but he resigned with the cavs.
Evan Mobley’s not there yet… this has nothing to do with small Market or big market. Kevin Garnett was a superstar with the small Market wolves. And Tim Duncan was a superstar with the small Market spurs.
With this Global expansion there really isn’t small Market teams in the way you’re saying. Players are recognized for their greatness no matter where they play. The only time small Market comes into play is spending money perhaps.
LeBron James played in Cleveland and he was a superstar. Donovan Mitchell plays in Cleveland and he’s a considered a superstar. The Knicks wanted him badly to lead their team but he resigned with the cavs.
This is not about small Market team this is about the player. It’s a global game now and you’re either a superstar or you’re not and it doesn’t matter small Market or big market.
Kevin Garnett was a superstar with the small Market wolves. Tim Duncan was a superstar with the small Market Spurs.
Thing is Evan Mobley’s not there yet. You’re wrong he’s not a superstar and it doesn’t matter where he’s playing.
He might get there but he’s going to need some work.
Seems like a lot for a player who hasn’t played in an all star game. Only 12 players suit up for your team. You pay the players you believe in. Mobley has a big future imo.
It’s just the Cavs need that now ……..
The Cavaliers problem last year was trying to feed too many guards. Mitchell, Garland, LeVert, Strus and Okoro combined to average about 80 points a game. That didn’t leave much on the table for Allen and Mobley. They both did half their scoring on put backs. For whatever reason JB was not telling his guards to toss the ball inside enough.They both have ridiculous shooting percentages . Mobley was tearing through the Celtics defense like a hot knife through warm butter. And from a defensive standpoint he is is comparable to Jaren Jackson or Rudy Gobert. That said he is faster than either and can switch from guarding the interior to the perimeter in a heartbeat. Something allowed by Allen’s presence. It also worked with Thompson inside last year. He lead the NBA in defensive win shares for 2022-2023. He’d have been defensive player of the the year but as a sophomore didn’t yey have the reputation to win it. Trust me Atkinson will put the ball in Evan’s capable hands.
Everyone wants wings. Players who can handle the ball. More shooting to get good looks. Just we forget the best FG % in NBA are by bigs who can score. Plus they put pressure on interior D. Which is the way you attack a good D team. I’m a big fan of solid bigs. They can be the anchor of your defense too. Mobley and Allen both can score down low. I agree they should go to them more.
How much better the Mitchell and Mobley vehicle than Mitchell and Gobert?
The Gobert/Mitchell pairing was limited by the players around them. After they signed Bogdanovìc and extended Conley they were out of cap space and had no tradable players. The players they had were too important to the offensive and defensive schemes. Utah had peaked and had no way of getting better. The only avenue to get better was to strike gold in the draft.
Cleveland doesn’t really have any picks or space left after signing Strus but some combination of Allen, Garland and Mobley can and will most likely will be traded. Allen and Mobley don’t have the exact same skill but they overlap enough to where on e can be moved to shore up other needs. Mitchell and Garland are similar but now that Mitchell signed his extension he won’t be traded unless he asks to be. I wouldn’t be surprised if they trade Garland and/or Allen for a better perimeter defender to help out Strus and some depth on the bench.
It’s not really a comparison, imo. Mobley and Gobert are only similar in that they have high defensive value. Gobert’s a limited offensive player who can only score from lobs, putbacks, and the pick and roll. No passing, no jumpers, minimal post game. Mobley can create his own shot anywhere inside the arc, hit 3s if you give him space, cut at an extremely high level, slash, attack in the post, and pass at an above-average level for a big man. It’s not obvious because he’s splitting interior touches with Allen, but Mobley has always been much better offensively than most bigs, and he’s improved every year. More diverse and more dominant. The way he plays when Allen’s not on the floor or when he’s injured gives you a pretty big clue of how dangerous he can be.
Trading Allen or Garland is the move. I’d prefer Garland, honestly. Mobley and Allen work so well together on defense, but Garland and Mitchell don’t on either end. Trade him for a good, larger wing who can shoot (Jerami Grant would be preferred, but it’d have to be a 3-team deal, probably), and the Cavs have everything they need to succeed.
2021 Class max (or potential max)
How do you rank the top 6 players?
Cade
Green
Mobley
Barnes
Wagner
Sengun
Cade — $224 MM max
Mobley — $224 MM max
Barnes — $269 MM max
Franz Wagner — $224 MM max
Jalen Green
Sengun
Evan Mobley is the key here. His development will determine whether the this Cavaliers team can make it to the promised land. Of course they need a backup center who can stretch the floor and a large wing too. That said Mobley has the tools if the back court will feed him the ball.
The Cavs just need to figure out if Mobley is that big wing they need or if he’s better suited as a rim protector. If he starts taking more threes and continues to make them at a solid clip he can play on the perimeter when Allen’s on the court and be the rim protector when he sits.
Personally I think they should trade Garland for a better defender at either SG or SF as Strus can play either spot, he’s also a good enough PG that they can potentially get a little bench depth in the process.
After watching the Summer League games I have to wonder if Jaylon Tyson could evolve into the larger wing the team needs. He is a beast on the boards, shoots 3’s well and is comfortable as a point forward. At worst he could be a jumbo point guard allowing Cleveland to deal Garland for large order of wing. Clearly Mobley has to shoot the 3 better and more effectively to play alongside Allen effectively. All that said I’d love to see if we could pry Tari Eason out of Houston to complete the front line.
Everybody always says how bad Mobley is from three and he was atrocious in his first two seasons. Young players develop though and Hlhe shot .373 from deep last season. I think he just to take more shots more of them
He will get better at shooting the 3 with time and effort. This year he really didn’t shoot many 3’S until he came back from his injury in February. While he was out he probably got in a lot of practice shooting. I see him as both an interior and perimeter defender. The reason he can’t be the large wing the team needs is because his guard like speed is less of an advantage against smaller players. On 1 or 2 plays any player can guard anyone. I once saw Muggsy Bogues block a Shaquille O’Neil shot. Muggsy was 22 inches shorter than O’Neil but was in the right place at the right time. That said no coach would ever have those 2 guard each other regularly. O’Neil can’t guard Bogues because he is too slow. Bogues can’t guard O’Neil because Shaq is 2 feet taller than him. Evan Mobley is fast some small forwards are 6’4 or 6’5. Expecting Mobley to keep pace with a guy like Ant Edward’s is silly. His advantage comes from being the fastest guy in the league at the 4 and 5 spots.
He was non existent in the playoffs. This could turn into a really bad contract
D we
Mobley averaged 21.4/9.4/3.2 on 62.7% shooting with a block and a steal per game against the Celtics (was basically the sole reason we didn’t get utterly annihilated after Mitchell went down) and was a key player for the wins over the Magic, but sure.
Solid points overall.only thing wrong is that you have Mobley averaging a block a game against the Celtics. He actually averaged 2 a game.
He had five blocks in five games against the Celtics. 26 in 12 playoff games last season overall (he had 3 per game against the Magic).
Bold strategy cotton, let’s see if it pays off for them.
Mobley is CLE’s future. He’s a potential top 10 player in the league. I still believe that, although I have to admit I expected his offensive game to be further along at this point. I also expected he fill out more. If Mobley can become that player or at least a DPOY candidate along with being a quality second offensive option, then CLE is a legitimate contender. If not, then not, at least without a reconfiguration of the top of the roster. They’ll likely need that in any event.
In the current NBA player markets, 30 out of the 30 teams would have given him this contract, and most would have given up substantial assets for the privilege of doing so.
I think the comment section of this thread is broken. Sorry for my repeated comments if and when they show up lol.
From their draft. I think Mobley and Green. Can be special.