The NBA games on Christmas Day were some of the best in recent memory, competitive games that also showcased a number of the league's rising talents and drew the most viewers in a long time, even with the NFL smushing Wednesday games onto the holiday.
One thing from Christmas was not happy, however, and that was Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic suffering a calf injury that will keep him out for at least a month. Doncic was once again among the top MVP candidates and seemed like a lock for an All-NBA team.
Unfortunately for Doncic and the Mavericks, it now appears certain that Doncic will miss too many games to qualify for end-of-year awards, including an All-NBA berth. The Slovenian star has made First Team All-NBA in each of the last five seasons; this year and his rookie year will be the only outliers.
The injury will have shockwaves through the rest of the year, and not simply for those teams facing a Mavericks team without its best player or Western Conference teams jockeying with Dallas for position in the standings. With Doncic off the board for All-NBA consideration, a spot is opening up for another player to step up and claim it.
Evan Mobley's contract extension
When Evan Mobley signed his rookie extension this past summer, a common refrain was offered about the details.
The rising fourth-year player and the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to a maximum rookie extension, which will be worth at least five years and $224 million. The two sides also negotiated into the contract a " Rose Rule" provision that means if Mobley wins the MVP award, Defensive Player of the Year or makes an All-NBA team, that number will increase, potentially all the way up to $269 million over those same five years.
The response to his contract was something like this: Mobley was a good player who hadn't done enough to earn Rose Rule increases, but also not good enough to earn them.
Not so fast.
Mobley has had a tremendous start to the season, becoming the centerpiece to the Cavaliers' offense as a playmaking hub and punisher of switches. He is even adding a legitimate 3-point shot to his arsenal over the past few weeks; if that is for real, he will continue to skyrocket up the rankings of players in the NBA.
He remains one of the league's best defenders, an interior force with the speed and versatility to defend anywhere on the court. The Cavs can deploy him in drop as the lone center, as a weakside rim protector rotating into the paint, as a switch defender, the point man in a zone, or even simply manning up an opposing wing. Mobley is incredibly good on both ends of the court.
Mobley's level-up will almost certainly place him in his first All-Star Game this winter, but whether or not he makes an All-NBA team is less certain. A number of deserving players will be jockeying with Mobley for a spot on a team, including teammate Donovan Mitchell.
Yet with every injury to a star player, the competition lessens and another spot opens up. Joel Embiid won't be making a team this year. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are already close to the maximum number of games you can miss. Players like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were playing at an All-NBA level before they went down with injuries.
Now Luka Doncic has removed his name from the board, and with it the fight for an All-NBA berth is made easier. For Evan Mobley, that means the path to qualifying for an even larger contract is on the table.
If Mobley makes more than the 25 percent maximum by making All-NBA, his contract could increase as much as $45 million over the next five seasons. That pushes the Cavaliers even further into the luxury tax as they keep this contending team together. A major payday for Mobley is an even larger pay expectation for Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers.
If Mobley earns that extra money, however, he will have earned it by leveling up as a player this season. That extra money will also make it that much more likely he stays in Cleveland and can sign his next contract extension, so in a long-term sense the short-term pain from a team-building side might be worth it.
For Mobley, the extra money will be a personal vindication for how he has weathered the storm of those doubting his growth as a star. He has proven his doubters wrong this year, silenced the critics, and now stands poised to make a significant payday next summer.