The Cleveland Cavaliers and Evan Mobley have come to terms on a new 5 year, $224M rookie max contract extension which could be worth as much as $269M.
The deal, which was negotiated by Mobley’s agents Joe Smith and Thad Foucher of the Wasserman group, will now keep the 7′ tall 23 year old in Cleveland for the foreseeable future. Since being selected 3rd overall back in 2021, Mobley has steadily developed into one of the NBA’s premier young defenders.
Averaging 15.7pts/9.4reb/1.4blk per game last season for the Cavaliers, Mobley was named to the first team All-Defence, while also finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2023.
Putting aside potential incentives/escalators in the deal, the former USC standout is set to earn:
2025/26- $38.66M
2026/27- $41.75M
2027/28- $44.85M
2028/29- $47.94M
2029/30- $52.03M
over the lifetime of his new deal.
Currently paired up with Jarrett Allen in the team’s front court, the two bigs helped the team rank 7th in scoring defence last season, by holding opponents to 110.2 points per contest. While Allen still has 2 years remaining on his current deal, the 26 year old’s name has popped up in potential trade talks over the last several weeks.
Whether the front office views Mobley and Allen as a long time fit together, or an experiment which could be nearing its close remains to be seen.
The contract continues a busy summer for the Cavaliers front office who also inked Donovan Mitchell to a 3 year, $150.3M contract extension, while also naming Kenny Atkinson the club’s new head coach, replacing J.B. Bickerstaff.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.