Cleveland Cavaliers 7 feet Evan Mobley Wasserman’s agents, Joe Smith and Thad Foucher, told ESPN on Saturday that he agreed to a five-year, $224 million rookie contract extension that could be worth as much as $269 million.
Mobley, 23, has emerged as one of the league’s elite young defensive big men, finishing third in 2023 Defensive Player of the Year voting and being named to the All-Defensive First Team.
He averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks for Cleveland last season while also shooting the best percentages of his career (57.9% overall, 37.3% on 3-pointers and 71.9% on free throws).
Since being selected third overall in the 2021 NBA Draft out of USC, Mobley has helped lead the Cavaliers to a seventh-ranked defensive rating last season, first-ranked in 2022-23 and fifth-ranked in 2021-22. In that span, Mobley: Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr.. and Rudy Gobert –Needs to have at least 300 blocks and 150 steals, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
He held opponents to 0.86 points on direct isolation and post-up plays last season, fifth-best among players defending three or more actions per game, according to tracking data from Second Spectrum.
Mobley had arguably his best performance as a pro in Cleveland’s Game 5 loss to the eventual champions in the 2024 playoffs, recording 33 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 43 minutes. Boston Celtics.
He also had 11 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks in Cleveland’s Game 7 win. Orlando Magic In the first round, the Cavaliers won their first series without a point. LeBron James He has been on the list for over 30 years.
During that Magic series, Mobley became the first Cleveland player to record at least five blocks in consecutive playoff games, and his 21 blocks in the seven-game series were the most ever recorded by the Cavs in a postseason series.
He finished the Boston series averaging 21.4 points and shooting 62.7% from the field, tying James (vs. Boston in 2016) for the most points. Toronto Raptors) and Kyrie Irving (2017 vs. the Celtics) Became the only Cleveland player to average at least 20 points on 60 percent shooting in a playoff series.
It was a productive summer for the Cavaliers. Not only did they sign Mobley to a contract, but they also hired Kenny Atkinson as head coach, replacing J.B. Bickerstaff. Donovan Mitchell The three-year extension will be worth up to $150.3 million and will keep the core of the team that has won 99 games and reached consecutive playoff appearances the past two years.
Atkinson, long considered one of the league’s best development coaches, told reporters at his press conference after being hired earlier this month that he wanted to get Mobley more involved in the offense.
“I think we can get the ball in his hands more strategically, honestly,” Atkinson said, “and it’s going to be in multiple ways.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.
