NBA 2K27 sees Evan Mobley exactly where Cleveland fans would want him: near the top of the shot-blocking list.
The Cavaliers center checked in at No. 7 in the game’s latest ratings release on Aug. 6, landing a 94 in the shot blocker category. That puts the 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year behind six other centers, but still firmly in the elite tier.
Mobley’s 94 matches Memphis center Zach Edey and Minnesota center Rudy Gobert. Only six players ranked above him on the graphic: San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, who sits alone at 99; Washington’s Alex Sarr at 97; Indiana’s Jay Huff and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren at 96; and Portland’s Donovan Clingan at 95. The final two names listed were the Lakers’ Walker Kessler and New Orleans’ Yves Missi, both at 93.
The rating comes after a season that made Mobley impossible to miss on the defensive end. He won Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25, earned All-Defensive First Team honors, made the All-NBA Second Team and got to his first All-Star Game. Cleveland also finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Mobley’s numbers backed up the hardware. In 65 games, he averaged 18.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 31.9 minutes per game.
He added 1.7 blocks and 0.7 steals per contest while shooting 54.6% from the field, 29.7% from three and 60.6% from the free-throw line. He also made 1.0 three-pointer per game.
The Cavaliers locked him in with a five-year maximum rookie extension in July 2024, a deal initially projected at $224.2 million. Once he won Defensive Player of the Year the following April, the contract triggered the 30% escalator and climbed to $269.1 million.
His 2025-26 salary moved from $38.7 million to $46.4 million. The contract runs through 2029-30, and Mobley cannot reach unrestricted free agency until the 2031 offseason.
That extension still stands as one of the biggest rookie deals in the league. Only Cade Cunningham has a larger one, while Victor Wembanyama’s new five-year, $252 million contract comes in below Mobley’s. Donovan Mitchell also signed a four-year, $273 million extension in July, though that deal does not begin until 2027-28.
Cleveland drafted Mobley third overall out of USC in 2021, and he has now played 334 regular-season games. Over that stretch, he has averaged 16.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
The Cavs went 52-30 and finished fourth in the East before taking a rugged playoff route. They beat Toronto in seven games, then erased a 2-0 deficit to knock out top-seeded Detroit in seven.
Mobley delivered in that Game 7 with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Three games earlier, he put up 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks in a 112-103 win.
Cleveland’s run ended in the conference finals, where it reached that round for the first time since 2018 before getting swept. The Knicks finished off the series 130-93 on May 25, with Mitchell scoring 31 in the loss. The Cavaliers had not been swept in a postseason series since the 2018 NBA Finals.
In Other News...
Cavs Schedule Release Carries Two Spotlight Dates Fans Will Hunt For
The NBA is rolling out its 2026-27 regular-season schedule in pieces this week, starting with the opening week and Christmas Day slate before the NBA Cup dates come later and the full 82-game calendar lands Thursday. For Cleveland, this is one of those releases where the usual scan through road trips and back-to-backs takes a back seat to the marquee windows, because the leagues national showcase plans have been shaped in part by LeBron James move to the Philadelphia 76ers.
What Cavs fans will really be hunting for is the point on the calendar when Cleveland first sees James in a Sixers uniform, a matchup that figures to draw a national audience right away. The other big question is whether the Cavaliers are rewarded with a Christmas Day spot and the kind of premium TV treatment that tends to follow it, leaving the schedule release with a couple of high-profile answers still waiting to be filled in. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Could Clear One Roster Logjam For A Bigger Need
The Cavaliers are looking at a familiar kind of summer move, one that is less about headlines than about opening doors. Cleveland is reportedly exploring trade options to move Dennis Schroders contract, with several teams in the mix as potential landing spots, including the Hornets, Wizards, Grizzlies, Clippers, Pistons, Trail Blazers, Jazz and Bucks.
The motivation is clear enough from the outside: the Cavs want more financial flexibility as they sort through bigger roster priorities. Clearing Schroders money could give them a cleaner path as they weigh targets such as Jonathan Kuminga and Peyton Watson, and the next step will be finding the right deal structure before that market tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Face A Costly Decision At A Position That Could Cap Them
The Cavaliers are sorting through a tricky spot on the wing, and the uncertainty at small forward has become one of the more interesting questions hanging over the roster. With Dean Wade gone and the long-ago LeBron James chapter closed, Cleveland is weighing how to fill a role that can shape both its lineup balance and its ceiling, especially with the current internal choices all carrying some size limitations.
Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson and Sam Merrill are among the names in the mix, but the front office may not be done shopping. Cleveland is also reportedly looking at external help on the wing, with Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga emerging as possible trade or free-agent paths if the Cavaliers decide the answer at small forward needs to be more than a temporary fix. [Read more 🡒]