The Cavaliers wish they were still alive in the postseason . For now, they must settle for awards season.
Along those lines, Evan Mobley earned recognition for his development and individual performance when the NBA announced Tuesday the Cavs forward had been selected to the league's All-Defensive Team.
After finishing third in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting , Mobley became a first-team selection on the All-Defensive Team.
The other first-team picks are Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. , who won the DPOY award, Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez , the runner-up for DPOY, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso .
Among those five players, Mobley finished fourth in voting with 132 points (49 first-team votes and 34 second-team votes). He trailed Jackson (195 points), Holiday (192) and Lopez (181) in the results but finished ahead of Caruso (125).
Mobley is the first Cavs player to earn a spot on an All-Defensive Team since the 2009-10 season , when LeBron James was first team and Anderson Varejao second team.
Put another way, the 21-year-old Mobley was 8 the last time the Cavs had a player who received the honor.
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Speaking of age, Mobley is the second-youngest player in NBA history to be named to an All-Defensive First Team, per the Cavs. He will turn 22 on June 18. The late Kobe Bryant was the youngest (21 years, 71 days at the end of 1999-2000 season).
Mobley is in his second professional season. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the last NBA player to make an All-Defensive Team in his first or second season was Tim Duncan in 1998-99. Duncan was in his second season.
The Cavs were outmuscled last month during a 4-1 series loss to the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
During season wrap-up news conferences, Mobley said "being in the weight room" is among his top offseason priorities, and Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman revealed the player has invested in a home gym .
Drafted third overall in 2021, Mobley averaged career highs with 16.2 points on 55.4% shooting from the field, nine rebounds and 2.8 assists in 34.4 minutes in the 2022-23 regular season.
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The 7-foot, 215-pound Mobley also averaged 1.51 blocks and 0.76 steals a game. He finished the season ranked first in the NBA in defensive win shares (4.8). He tied for first in contested 3-pointers (3.6) and fourth in contested shots (11.4) per game.
"Evan elevated his game to become a top three Defensive Player of the Year finalist," Altman said. "If you ask me, he was No. 1 — when you can guard one through five at his position and do what he did, taking away nothing from the other two [finalists who] are really good."
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs forward Evan Mobley voted to NBA's All-Defensive Team
