By David Aldridge, Jason Lloyd and Alex Andrejev
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Evan Mobley have agreed on a five-year, $224 million most rookie contract extension that could possibly be price as much as $269 million, a league supply confirmed Saturday.
ESPN first reported the information.
Mobley is the second key participant Cleveland locked up with a most extension this month after agreeing to a three-year, $150.3 million max contract with five-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell on July 2.
Mobley, a 23-year-old energy ahead, averaged 15.7 factors, 9.4 rebounds and three.2 assists in 50 regular-season video games final season. In 12 postseason contests through the 2023-24 marketing campaign, he averaged 16 factors, 9.3 rebounds and a couple of.3 assists.
Mobley led all gamers in blocks and contested photographs by a large margin final postseason. With him as an anchor, the Cavs have ranked within the prime 10 in defensive score every of his three years within the league.
He made the All-Defensive First Group in 2023 and All-Rookie First Group in 2022 after the Cavaliers chosen him at No. 3 within the 2021 NBA Draft.
He’s the fourth member of the 2021 draft class to obtain a max extension, becoming a member of Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes and Franz Wagner.
Cleveland went 48-34 final season, shedding in 5 video games to the eventual champion Boston Celtics within the Jap Convention Semifinals, underneath J.B. Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff was fired after the season and changed in June by former Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson within the head-coaching position.
What this implies for Cavs
The Cavs have been making ready to offer Mobley a max extension for at the least two years. He joins Mitchell and Darius Garland as gamers on max contracts in Cleveland, giving the group management over all three franchise pillars via at the least the 2026-27 season.
Mobley has been a defensive drive since getting into the league, ending third in Defensive Participant of the 12 months voting in 2023. He has underwhelmed offensively, averaging 15.6 factors via his first three seasons whereas his 3-point shot has been gradual to develop.
The Cavs consider Atkinson can get extra out of Mobley on the offensive finish whereas sustaining his standing as a premier large defensively. The Cavs additionally management Jarrett Allen for 2 extra years, which means it’s on Atkinson to determine tips on how to play Allen with Mobley after the 2 struggled to remain on the ground for prolonged minutes collectively final season. — Jason Lloyd, Cleveland senior author
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(Photograph: David Butler II / USA At the moment)
