Since Warriors forward Draymond Green made his case a week ago for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, the betting odds have swung significantly in his favor. Green is the new frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year honors at most sportsbooks, including BetOnline.ag, taking over the top spot from Evan Mobley.
In the view of Mobley’s Cavaliers teammates, those oddsmakers have it wrong.
“Evan was the favorite but then we lost four games in a row and you guys changed it up,” big man Tristan Thompson told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). “Draymond is the favorite now, right? Draymond is a Hall of Famer and he is the anchor for their defense as well. But he has won Defensive Player of the Year. It’s Evan’s turn. I’ve heard rumblings about maybe (Thunder wing) Lu Dort. Yeah, we’re going for Evan in here. We are the No. 1 team in the East. Defensively, we are up there in the top 10 and no one can consistently score on him, so that’s who my vote is for.”
Thompson, advising award voters not to “f–k it up,” made it clear that Mobley’s case for DPOY is about more than just it being “his turn” to be recognized.
“He is the key for us defensively,” Thompson said. “Able to guard one through five. Alters shots. Blocks shots. In the passing lanes. Rule of verticality. Switches onto guards. He is able to do so much at that end of the court. Like I’ve always said, he is a young Anthony Davis. Ev is a nightmare defensively.”
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland agreed, suggesting that Mobley as this season’s Defensive Player of the Year should be a “no-brainer” pick for voters.
“He’s definitely the best defender in the league by far. Switching onto guards and bigs,” Garland said. “… He’s gotten robbed out of a couple awards already. I don’t want him to be robbed out of this one too. He’s deserving of it. He’s been doing it for three years now. He hasn’t gotten an award yet. I think it’s time the league gives him the recognition he deserves.”
As Fedor writes, Mobley has a strong statistical case for the award. He ranks sixth in the NBA in total blocked shots and third in contested shots per game and is in the top 20 in categories like defensive win shares, defensive box plus-minus, defensive rating, defensive rebound percentage, and defensive estimated plus-minus.
As head coach Kenny Atkinson points out, Mobley’s on/off court numbers also reflect the impact he has on that end of the court. The Cavs’ overall defensive rating for the season is a solid 111.4, good for eighth in the NBA. With Mobley on the court, that number improves to 107.7, which would make Cleveland the No. 2 defensive team in the league (and No. 1 in the East) by a comfortable margin.
“It’s just one simple stat — how we’re rated defensively with him on the court and then without him,” Atkinson told Fedor. “(President of basketball operations) Koby (Altman) always says this. He impacts winning and defense at a level he’s never seen and he has done it since he’s been in the league. This is not to put down any of the other candidates, he has won and leads a top 10 defense. Usually that lines up with Defensive Player of the Year.”
Besides Green and Mobley, other potential candidates for Defensive Player of the Year include Dort, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. Those players will have an opportunity during the final two-and-a-half weeks of the regular season to make their final on-court arguments for recognition, though Mobley said he has no intention of altering his approach to try to strengthen his DPOY case.
“All the guys believe in me, and I believe in myself,” Mobley told Fedor. “I’m not going to change or do anything different. Just be myself. I feel like the numbers and the things that aren’t necessarily tracked, I feel like I play a big part in those things. Some guys won’t even take shots just because I’m down there. I’m going to keep going out there and playing the best defense I can and hopefully I get the award.”
I just got finished reading about how Draymond doesn’t care about individual awards, only winning. Is Jimmy Butler lying??
That said, “it’s Evan’s turn” is a bad argument.
Dyson Daniels should get it. Don’t reward the donkey.
Daniels plays on a team that plays low stress games and all he does is get steals. He isn’t on Marcus Smart’s tier the year he won. Defense isn’t just “steals totals”, its holding teams scoreless. Mobley deserves it.
Evan Mobley is a good player but he is very overrated. Sure his defense is great but I dont like how people remove Jarrett Allen from the equation as if he wasnt a huge part as to why the Cavs defense is great as well.
Draymond talked himself into the lead??? I thought everyone hated him???
After last night, Draymond doesn’t deserve it. If GSW ran the table the last month and got to 50 wins, he might have a point. Last night proved he isn’t the leader he thinks he is. If he was, they would have won. Kerr is #1 Curry rider, Klay is #2, Dray is #3, Wiggins is #4.
Mobley has the wins, Dray doesn’t. Give it to Mobley.
Mobley has Allen next to him. That helps him to be a better defender. He is definitely in the running. My pick is J Jackson. He’s been doing it for years. Grizz miss him more. Than Cavs would miss Mobley.
This year is a close race. Dyson deserves votes too. So does OG. So does SGA ….
Doesn’t show up in the stats, but if you watch Mobley’s teammate Dean Wade closely, it’s a wonder he is never even honorably mentioned.
Yeah he’s solid. Not shooting him down. But a real rim protector helps team D. More than any other player. That’s what a real center, Big can do.
OG doesn’t have one. Im always talking about a rim protector lol. Cavs have two