Evan Mobley Continues Mounting Case For Defensive Player Of The Year

Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers earned a 127-122 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, reaching the 60-win plateau. It’s the third time they’ve reached that mark in franchise history and the first since the 2009-10 campaign.

Cleveland now has a 4.5-game lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings. With seven contests left on the Cavaliers’ regular season schedule, it’s a safe bet that they will enter the playoffs with home-court advantage against any foe they face in the East.

The work of their new head coach, Kenny Atkinson, has been essential to Cleveland’s rise to the top of the Eastern Conference hierarchy — at least in the regular season. So has Donovan Mitchell staying and proving even more willing to sacrifice this season.

Darius Garland’s growth, Ty Jerome evolving into a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, and the acquisition of De’Andre Hunter are also reasons the Cavaliers can feel confident about their postseason prospects.

Another crucial component to their success is burgeoning star Evan Mobley. The six-foot-11 power forward made a leap this season that catapulted him into his first All-Star Game.

Much of that has to do with making his presence felt more at the offensive end of the floor. Mobley is averaging a career-high 18.6 points. That’s up from 15.7 a season ago. He’s also dishing out 3.1 assists per contest. That’s a tick below the personal best he registered in 2023-24, distributing 3.1 assists last year.

Mobley’s maturation also includes more willingness and increased effectiveness from beyond the arc. After never attempting more than 1.3 threes in a season, in his fourth year in the Association, the former USC Trojan is taking 3.1 triples and converting them at a 37.1 percent clip.

Not to be lost in the former third-overall draft pick’s development is his continued growth on defense. Mobley’s blocking 1.6 shots per game, the fifth-most in the league.

As one of the most impactful and versatile defenders in the NBA, it’s no surprise that Mobley, an All-Defensive First Team selection in 2022-23, is in the thick of the race for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

It’s an accolade that skews towards rim-protecting big men. That’s relevant to Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies also being two of the top candidates for the award.

Before Marcus Smart, then of the Boston Celtics, in 2021-22, a guard had not won Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton took home the hardware in 1995-96.

In another All-Star-caliber performance at both ends of the court on Sunday, Mobley produced 22 points on 8/16 shooting. That includes knocking down 3/6 attempts from three-point range. He also snagged seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and swatted three of the shots the Clippers hoisted.

After the victory, the often-reserved 23-year-old spoke, perhaps more openly than ever, about who he believes should win Defensive Player of the Year this season.

“Me. 4. Evan Mobley, DPOY,” said the California native. “Just go out there, play my brand of basketball, try not to talk too much. Defense wins championships,” per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

No one seemed to enjoy hearing that more than Mobley’s teammates, who encouraged him to reiterate that statement and were gleeful upon hearing him do so.

“Yeah. I mean, they definitely support me,” Mobley expressed of his teammates’ belief in him. “I feel like this year, how I’ve been playing, definitely deserves Defensive Player of the Year.”

Mobley has seven games left to separate himself from the pack in a tightly contested race against multiple competitors who have already earned this distinction.