Cleveland Cavaliers 7-footer Evan Mobley has agreed to a five-year, $224 million maximum rookie contract extension that could become worth as much as $269 million, agents Joe Smith and Thad Foucher of Wasserman told ESPN on Saturday.
Mobley, 23, has quickly become one of the league’s elite young defensive big men, finishing third in voting for Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 as well as being named an All-Defensive first-teamer.
He averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last season for Cleveland, while also posting career-high shooting percentages: 57.9% overall, 37.3% from 3 and 71.9% from the free throw line.
Since arriving as the third pick in the 2021 NBA draft out of USC, Mobley has helped lead the Cavaliers to finishing seventh in defensive rating last season, first in 2022-23 and fifth in 2021-22.
Over that span, Mobley is also one of just four players — along with Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Rudy Gobert — to have at least 300 blocks and 150 steals, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
He also held opposing players to 0.86 points per direct play on isolations and post-ups last season, fifth best among players to defend three-plus actions per game, according to Second Spectrum’s tracking data.
Mobley had arguably his best performance as a professional in Cleveland’s final game of the 2024 playoffs when he posted 33 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 43 minutes in a Game 5 loss to the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
It has been a productive summer for the Cavaliers. They have now not only inked Mobley to this deal but also hired Kenny Atkinson to replace J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach and signed Donovan Mitchell to a three-year, $150.3 million max extension.
