Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers had the sixth-best defense in the league, allowing just 112.7 points per 100 possessions.
Evan Mobley was at the center of that defensive impact, with his combination of shot-blocking, paint protection, defending in space and overall savvy. He finished the season ranked ninth in Defensive Rating, 10th in Defensive Box Plus-Minus and 13th in Block Percentage.
Yet Evan Mobley did not receive a single vote to land on an All-Defense Team.
The reason was not some bias toward the Cavaliers or to small markets; it wasn't a result of votes being swept up by a narrative or being blind to the statistics. The reason, simply put, was that last season Evan Mobley played in just 50 games, which means he was ineligible for end-of-year awards, including All-Defense and Defensive Player of the Year.
This season, Mobley is considered a frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, and a strong candidate to make an All-NBA Team as well. To do so, Mobley has to clear the first hurdle: playing in 65 eligible games.
Evan Mobley is close to the goal
Shrewd readers of this post may look at Evan Mobley's statistics and note that he has already appeared in 65 games -- in 66, to be precise. Yet the NBA requires that in 63 of those 65 games the player in question plays at least 20 minutes.
Mobley fell short of that goal in four different games. In one, the home beatdown of the Los Angeles Lakers on the night before Halloween, Mobley scored 25 points in just 19 minutes and sat the rest of the game. In the other three, Mobley played between 11 and 18 minutes before exiting early due to injury.
That means Mobley has 62 games where he logged at least 20 minutes and needs to log one more. Presumably, Mobley can do so tonight when the Cavaliers host the Knicks, at which point he will be fully eligible for end-of-year awards.
Winning Defensive Player of the Year is not a lock, but Mobley is certainly the favorite at this point in the race, even if Draymond Green is loud and plays well on TV. A continued strong showing down the stretch of the season will likely lock it up for Mobley.
Even if he doesn't win DPOY, however, he is all-but a lock to make an All-NBA Team. You would be hard-pressed to name 10 eligible players this season who have outperformed Mobley, and it's nearly impossible to name 15. With a number of prominent stars disqualified due to the 65-game rule, it only makes it more likely that Mobley will see his name on an All-NBA team.
With either DPOY or an All-NBA team, Mobley's contract will automatically increase in value, up to 30 percent of the salary cap next season. That will most likely mean going from $38.7 million next season up to $36.4 million, essentially tying Donovan Mitchell for the largest cap hit on the team.
Play one more game, pass the 20 minute threshold, and Mobley will secure literal riches and basketball glory for himself. Then comes the more arduous task: joining with his teammates to bring glory to Cleveland by winning the NBA Finals.