Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley Named 2024/25 Defensive Player Of The Year

Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley won the 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year award, the NBA announced on Thursday (Twitter link).

Mobley is the first player in Cavaliers history to win the award. He 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 placing second in field-goal percentage allowed. He was the only player in the league who appeared in at least 50 games while averaging more than 1.5 blocks and fewer than 2.0 fouls per game. The Cavs dropped 10 spots in defensive rating with Mobley off the floor.

The 6’11” big man beat out Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Warriors forward Draymond Green for the award. Mobley received 35 first-place votes and 285 points in total, while Daniels was the runner-up with 25 first-place votes and 197 points.

Green (15 first-place votes; 154 points), Thunder wing Luguentz Dort (11 first-place votes; 109 points), and Rockets guard Amen Thompson (nine first-place votes; 93 points) rounded out the top five, with eight other players receiving votes, including two more – Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo – who received first-place nods.

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama had been considered the heavy favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors through the All-Star break, but was diagnosed with a blood clot that prevented him from reaching the 65-game minimum.

You can view the full DPOY 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, maximum-salary rookie scale extension this past offseason that included Rose Rule language, meaning his new deal would start at up to 30% of the cap (instead of 25%) 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, Mobley’s total salary over the next five years is expected to increase by about $44.8MM, from $224.2MM to roughly $269.1MM, as our maximum-salary projections show. That now leaves the Cavaliers with $219MM in projected salary in 2025/26, putting them over the second apron, Marks observes.

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