Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley has agreed to a five-year, $224 million maximum rookie contract extension that could become worth as much as $269 million based on incentives, agents Joe Smith and Thad Foucher of Wasserman told ESPN on Saturday.
Since entering the league as the third overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Mobley has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier defensive players. He finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2023 and was also named first team All-Defense that year.
Mobley, 23, averaged 15.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks last season, while also notching career-high shooting percentages of 57.9 overall, 37.3 from 3-point range and 71.9 from the free throw line.
He is one of just four players to have at least 300 blocks and 150 steals over the past three seasons. The others are Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Mobley was likely headed for his second straight all-defense selection, but an early-season knee injury limited him to 50 regular-season games in 2023-24.
Over his 198 career games, Mobley has averaged 15.6 points on 54.4 percent shooting to go with 8.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 blocks.
He had arguably his best game as a pro in Cleveland’s final game of the 2024 playoffs when he tallied 33 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 43 minutes in a Game 5 loss to the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers hired Kenny Atkinson to replace J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach earlier this offseason and signed star guard Donovan Mitchell to a three-year, $150.3 million max extension.
WNBA awards expansion team to Portland
The WNBA announced Wednesday it has awarded an expansion franchise to the City of Portland that will begin play in 2026.
Portland joins the California Bay Area and Toronto as new franchises set to enter the WNBA within the next two years, bringing the league to 15 teams. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025, with Portland and Toronto starting the following season.
The Portland franchise will be owned and operated by the Bhathal family, which paid $125 million for the club. Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as controlling owner and WNBA Governor, while Alex Bhathal was named Alternate Governor.
“For decades, Portland has been the global epicentre of sports lifestyle and today, we are now the global epicentre of women’s sports,” said Lisa Bhathal Merage. “We believe in the transformative power of women’s sports and are thrilled that the W will call Portland home.
"We know that Portland’s vibrant and diverse communities will highly support and rally around this team. Our goal is to grow this organisation in partnership with the Portland community, and we look forward to supporting the best women’s basketball players in the world when they take the floor at the Moda Center in 2026.”
The Bhathals also own the National Women's Soccer League's Portland Thorns and are investors in the NBA's Sacramento Kings.
Portland previously had a WNBA team, known as the Fire, that folded after three seasons in 2002.
“As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Portland has been an epicentre of the women’s sports movement and is home to a passionate community of basketball fans. Pairing this energy with the Bhathal family’s vision of leading top-flight professional sports teams will ensure that we deliver a premier WNBA team to the greater Portland area.”
Engelbert said in April the WNBA's goal is to expand to 16 teams by 2028, though it's unlikely the league adds another franchise before 2027.
Aces star Wilson has first 1,000-point season in WNBA
A'ja Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season in the Las Vegas Aces' 84-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
Wilson finished with 29 points and reached the 1,000-point mark on a pull-up jumper with two minutes remaining.
Wilson's latest milestone came just four days after she established the WNBA single-season scoring record, breaking the mark of 939 points set by Jewell Lloyd in 2023.
The Aces have won seven of eight games and own a one-game lead over the Seattle Storm for the No. 4 seed in the play-offs and home-court advantage in that series.
Wilson wasn't the only WNBA star with a memorable performance on Sunday, as Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 35 points in the Indiana Fever's 110-109 win over the Dallas Wings.
Clark also added eight assists and combined with Kelsey Mitchell to hit 12 of Indiana's 16 3-pointers.
Clark has already established a WNBA rookie record with 761 points, and her 329 assists are the most by any player in a single season in league history.
Clark sets WNBA assists record in Fever's loss
Caitlin Clark set the WNBA single-season record for assists with 320 in the Indiana Fever's 78-74 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night.
Clark scored all 18 of her points in the second half and finished with nine assists and eight rebounds. The rookie broke the mark of 316 set last season by Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun.
Clark was scoreless on 0 for 5 shooting in the first half and picked up her third foul when she was called for a charge late in the second quarter as the Aces took a 43-35 lead into the break. She scored 14 points in the third quarter to help the Fever trim a 13-point deficit to 60-57 heading into the fourth quarter.
Clark has continued to make history throughout her first year in the WNBA, surpassing the single-season three-point record among rookies on Aug. 28. She also dished out 19 assists in a loss to the Dallas Wings in July, setting a single-game record.
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