Cavs' Mobley wins Defensive Player of the Year

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year during Thursday's playoffs broadcast on TNT.

Mobley beat out Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels for the annual award.

Mobley earned 35 first-place votes, while Daniels had 25 and Green got 15. Oklahoma City Thunder wing Luguentz Dort and Houston Rockets sophomore Amen Thompson rounded out the top five.

Player	Team	1st-place votes (5 points)	Total points
Evan Mobley	Cavaliers	35	285
Dyson Daniels	Hawks	25	197
Draymond Green	Warriors	15	154
Luguentz Dort	Thunder	11	109
Amen Thompson	Rockets	9	93
Ivica Zubac	Clippers	4	34
Jaren Jackson Jr.	Grizzlies	0	9
Giannis Antetokounmpo	Bucks	0	5
Toumani Camara	Blazers	0	4
Bam Adebayo	Heat	0	3
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Thunder	0	3
Derrick White	Celtics	0	3
Rudy Gobert	Timberwolves	0	1

The 23-year-old had a breakout season at both ends of the court, though it was on the defensive end where Mobley best exhibited his refined play: He was in the 90th percentile for foul percentage despite finishing third in contested shots (10.4).

In 2022-23 Mobley finished third in voting and was named to the All-Defensive first team. The one-time All-Star was the catalyst of the Cavs' eighth-ranked defense this campaign.

Mobley played a key role in the Cavs finishing atop the Eastern Conference with 64 wins. He boasted a 108.6 defensive rating through 71 games to go along with 1.6 blocks per contest while holding opponents to sub-50% shooting.

With Mobley winning the award, his first-year salary on his rookie extension starting next season will increase from 25% of the Cavs' salary cap to 30%, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Mobley is the first Cavalier in NBA history to win the defensive honor.