Reigning 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley just added another award to his trophy case.
On Thursday afternoon, the Cleveland Cavaliers big man was named to the league’s All-Defensive First Team.
Mobley joined Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Oklahoma City Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, Golden State Warriors big Draymond Green and Houston Rockets wing Amen Thompson on the first team.
Mobley led in total voting points and received 99 first-team votes from the panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who submitted ballots. Mobley was the key member of the Cavaliers’ eighth-ranked defense. He finished the regular season 13th in defensive rebounds per game (7.0) and sixth in blocks per game (1.6). But what really separates Mobley from most of his peers, league coaches have said, is his rare ability as a 7-footer to switch onto opponents’ guards and defend them well.
Graphic courtesy of the NBA
Mobley, 23, previously made the All-Defensive First Team during the 2022-23 season.
To be eligible for an All-Defensive team, players must have played in at least 65 regular-season games (and met a minutes threshold in those games) or played in at least 62 regular-season games before suffering a season-ending injury (and played in at least 85 percent of their team’s games before the injury). The most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the players’ union stipulates the games-played requirement, which also applies to the MVP, All-NBA, Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
The playing-time requirement eliminated from consideration a large number of defensive standouts, including Alex Caruso and Chet Holmgren of the Thunder, Anthony Davis of the Dallas Mavericks, Dorian Finney-Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers, Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets, Jrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Isaac and Jalen Suggs of the Orlando Magic, Herb Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans, Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons and Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
The 2024-25 season is also the second season that the league has employed “positionless” voting for its All-Defensive and All-NBA teams. In prior years, voters selected two guards, two forwards and one center for each of the two All-Defensive teams and each of the three All-NBA teams. Voters are now directed to select the most deserving players, regardless of their positions.
This was Daniels’ breakout season. He won the Most Improved Player award and finished as the runner-up to Mobley in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Daniels, 22, led the NBA in steals, averaging 3.01 per game, the highest average since the 1990-91 season, when Alvin Robertson led the league with 3.04 steals per game. For his efforts, Daniels, who is from Australia, received a clever nickname, “The Great Barrier Thief.”
Dort, 26, and Amen Thompson, 22, join Daniels as first-time All-Defensive First Team honorees.
Dort was the best lockdown defender on a Thunder team that led the league in defensive rating by a wide margin, allowing 106.6 points per 100 possessions. The next-best team, the Magic, allowed 109.1 points per 100 possessions.
Thompson’s Rockets finished the regular season fifth in defensive rating, allowing 110.3 points per 100 possessions.
Green, 35, had been named to the All-Defensive First Team four times before this season. He is widely acknowledged as the Warriors’ key defender, renowned for his on-court communication with teammates and his ability to predict opponents’ tendencies several steps ahead of time.
LA Clippers big Ivica Zubac, Memphis Grizzlies big Jaren Jackson Jr., Thunder wing Jalen Williams, Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara and Minnesota Timberwolves big Rudy Gobert were named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
What’s the biggest surprise?
Last year, four of the five All-Defensive First Team spots went to bigs: Bam Adebayo, Davis, Gobert and Wembanyama.
This year, the first team leans more heavily toward perimeter players, with Daniels, Dort and Thompson earning recognition. That’s not exactly a “surprise,” given how Wembanyama and Davis were ineligible for consideration because they did not meet the 65-game threshold. But it’s notable nonetheless.
Who were the biggest snubs?
Two players immediately come to mind: Adebayo and the Boston Celtics’ Derrick White.
Adebayo, who is adept at switching onto smalls, had been a second- or first-team All-Defensive selection for five consecutive seasons — until this season. His Miami Heat finished ninth in defensive rating during the regular season, and his intensity and consistency were a primary reason for the Heat’s defensive strength.
White was named to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and he seemed like a strong candidate once again, especially considering how his Celtics ranked fourth leaguewide in defensive rating. With Holiday, his partner in Boston’s starting backcourt, not meeting the 65-game threshold, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see voters reward Boston for its strong defense by focusing on White.
Two others had strong cases for inclusion: the New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby and the Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels.
Anunoby received the 11th-highest voting point total this season, with two first-team votes and 45 second-team votes, for 49 overall points. He finished 16 points behind Gobert for the final second-team spot.
McDaniels is widely regarded as one of the league’s better perimeter defenders — earning a spot last season on the All-Defensive Second Team — but he finished well off the pace this season in a crowded field of stellar perimeter defenders.
Graphic courtesy of the NBA
Required reading
(Photo of Evan Mobley: Charles Krupa / Associated Press)
