Evan Mobley's Defensive Player of the Year win might present a financial issue for the Cleveland Cavaliers after this season.

ESPN insider Brian Windhorst talked about the team's situation on an episode of The Hoop Collective podcast on Friday. He explained how Mobley’s DPOY Win earned him a $45 million bonus, which will increase his total contract value to $269 million over five years. As a result, it might lead to losses in the Cavs' roster construction.

“There’s people in the organization who have said to me, ‘We absolutely want, we’re so excited that we gave Evan this contract and he’s going to be an All-NBA player and a Defensive Player of the Year maybe, but this bonus could cost us a player.’ I’m not sure what the Ty Jerome market is going to be,” Windhorst said at the 46:24 mark.

“I’ve talked to some teams who are like, ‘oh because the mid-level exception is a full mid-level, the non-taxpayer mid-level is 14 million.’ Not that many teams are going to have that because if you spend that you can’t go into the first apron.”

What's next for Evan Mobley, Cavs

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) defends Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) in the fourth quarter of game two of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena.
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The Cavs could find themselves in a tough situation after Evan Mobley's award win, creating some decisions they will have to make.

Brian Windhorst mentioned that Ty Jerome is in the final year of his contract, where he’s only earning $2.5 million. However, that could reach the mid-level range of $14 million after a solid year which saw him average a career high 12.5 points per game on 43.9% 3-point shooting. Dean Wade is another player that has one more year left next year earning $6.6 million but could have to go with Mobley’s added bonus.

In other words, Cleveland must maximize of the roster this year. They had their best season outside of the LeBron James era by winning 64 regular season games, making a solid case for the 2025 NBA championship. It will be tough, but they have the talent to make a run. If not this year, then they will experience change that could significantly affect their chances moving forward.

The Cavs will look to take a 3-0 series lead when they face the Heat in Game 3. The contest will take place on April 26 at 1 p.m. ET.