Cavs' Donovan Mitchell Backs Evan Mobley as 2022-23 NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell backed teammate and forward Evan Mobley's case for Defensive Player of the Year, per Danny Cunningham of ESPN Cleveland.

"He should be the Defensive Player of the Year," Mitchell said of Mobley.

"I've played with a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, so I know what it looks like and I'm seeing it with him, for sure."

Mitchell was referring to his former teammate on the Utah Jazz, center Rudy Gobert, a shot-blocking machine who has been a member of the NBA All-Defensive first team six years running. He won DPOY honors in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Mobley, a second-year pro, looks like he's going to be in the DPOY running for as long as he's in the league. Per Basketball Reference, Mobley is No. 1 in the NBA with 4.6 defensive win shares. He's also third on NBA.com's latest Defensive Player Ladder rankings.

Mobley has also received a ringing endorsement from another teammate in Darius Garland, who said this to reporters after his team's 114-90 win over the Detroit Pistons on March 4 (h/t Ashley Bastock of cleveland.com).

"He switches out 1 through 5 any time, protects the rim really well, slides his feet, contests all the shots," Garland said. "It's really tough just pointing out one thing. I think he's an All-Defensive type player, in my opinion, so I'm gonna go with that."

Mobley's case is also boosted by the fact that he's the backbone of the team with the No. 1 defensive efficiency in the NBA.

Most importantly, though, Mobley has played a big part in the 48-29 Cavs clinching their first playoff berth since 2018 and their first one overall without LeBron James since 1998. They have five regular-season games remaining, with the first one occurring Friday against the New York Knicks.