Re: Evan Mobley Wins the Defensive Player of the Year
Author's Note: A bit of a different piece this week. It was finals week at school, and I had little to no time to write about the first half of the first round of the playoffs. As a result, this is a more condensed (I can probably take some notes) and different type of piece than what I would usually put out. Regularly scheduled programming resumes next week.
Evan Mobley has won 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors, the league announced Thursday.
The words came across my screen as a warm breeze told me it was alright that I missed on my 6th Man of the Year choice earlier this week, as Payton Pritchard edged out Malik Beasley for the honors. At the end of the day, it really shouldn't matter how accurate my selections are for these yearly awards, but it's always nice to know the alignment from the true committee is there.
Back to the case at hand, Evan Mobley claims his first and the Cavaliers' first Defensive Player of the Year award in franchise history. I could not be happier with Mobley's development over these previous few seasons, and the recognition finally bestowed upon the 23-year-old was a solid reassurance that I was right to be so high on him coming out of USC.
Mobley beat out fellow finalists Draymond Green and Dyson Daniels for the award, neither of whom I had in my finalists for the award, but I'm not appalled by the official runner-ups. While I still feel Amen Thompson had just a strong a case as anybody in this class not named Evan Mobley (and frankly, I've had very mixed feelings on my Jaren Jackson Jr. selection since the piece was released), I understand not having him make it as far as the chosen three, as he felt much more as the best piece on a much rounded defensive unit rather than being what the defense is built on like say a Mobley or Green, but to not even give him that top-three finish felt like, let's say, a choice, to me. Green, I feel like, is almost a lock to be in the race for this award every year if the Warriors have any shot of title contention. The fact of the matter is, he's the anchor on a proven team whose effect on a night-to-night basis is undeniable; that's usually enough to get you within contention. The Daniels selection as the third-place finisher for the award is something I'm not entirely against, I just have a hard time giving the award to somebody I feel is far more an individual defender rather than a player who can change the tide completely when he's on the court.
Mobley simply did too much as a defensive anchor throughout the season for a legitimate title contender for this season's Larry O'Brien to be truly challenged. There isn't a single player in the league not named Rudy Gobert that I'd rather have spotted up in the post than Mobley. If you need to choose a big man to be out on an island with the top guards in the league, you go with Mobley. If I'm facing an Anthony Edwards or a LeBron James who's barrelling down the lane at 20 miles per hour, I want Mobley to be the one ready to challenge them at the rim. I thought incredibly highly of the other contenders in this class, but I didn't have any doubt in my mind that Evan Mobley was the best out of the group.
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