CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Friday, Donovan Mitchell, the face of the Cavs, was named to the All-NBA first team for the first time in his career. Evan Mobley, the franchise’s future, earned All-NBA second team honors in just his fourth season.
But while the accolades are individual, they speak to something bigger: proof of progress. A reflection of how Cleveland has methodically built one of the league’s most complete regular-season teams.
It’s the first time in a decade — when LeBron James made First Team and Kyrie Irving made Third Team — that the Cavs have two players honored on the All-NBA teams.
In a city where the bar is a banner and nothing less, these honors don’t signal a destination. But they do suggest direction.
Since James and Irving earned their All-NBA nods, Cleveland’s rafters still cradle their lone championship banner — a shining reminder of a moment the city cherishes. But Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley aren’t content to let that banner hang in solitude. As they chase their own legacy, they look to that past not as mere chance, but as a carefully drawn blueprint they’re determined to bring to life again.
And how Mitchell and Mobley got their All-NBA nods— the sacrifices, the steps forward, the subtle style shifts — might matter more than the honors themselves.
Mitchell didn’t have to chase numbers to get here. He’d done that before— averaged more, shot more, carried more. This season, he finally had the roster, the coach and the confidence to do something harder: trust. Trust that scaling back would lead to scaling up. Trust that letting others grow wouldn’t stunt his own spotlight. And still, somehow, he delivered whenever his team needed it.
The six-time All-Star finished fifth in MVP voting not because he wowed every night, but because he understood when not to.
When to orchestrate instead of dominate. When to reset the offense instead of forcing the issue. That’s not passivity. That’s growth. That’s leadership.
His next step will be taking that same mentality into the playoffs, trusting in his co-stars to pick up where he leaves off. Easier said than done as injuries mangled the Cavs once again as their postseason run came to an end.
“He’s a superstar that’s doing the dirty work,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Mitchell. “It’s not just the scoring or the passing or controlling the game. He’s boxing out. I think he’s defending at a high level, and that’s what it takes. I think that’s what it takes. He understands that’s what it takes to get to the next level.
“He’s kind of doing everything. ... he’s had to carry us, especially when we were shorthanded and guys hobbled.”
Mobley’s rise, on the other hand, wasn’t about managing expectations. It was about shattering them.
First All-Star appearance? Earned. Defensive Player of the Year? Deserved. All-Defensive first team on Thursday, followed by an All-NBA second team nod on Friday? A statement.
But he’s not satisfied. Probably never will be. Not when the Cavs are still watching the playoffs from home. Not when he knows their championship aspirations depend on his next leap. Becoming the star who doesn’t ask for the spotlight, but forces it to follow him.
“We think we have one of the best big men in the game in Evan Mobley,” Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said in his end-of-season press conference.
“This is a big offseason again for Evan. We’re going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go. And we’ve had that conversation with Evan.”
Eighteen points and nine rebounds a night might not sound like a headline-grabbing season on paper, but context matters.
His 2024-25 campaign was built on versatility, instincts and the kind of elite discipline that rarely shows up on stat sheets but screams off the tape.
But the most important shift wasn’t just in the numbers. It was in the attitude. Mobley started looking like a guy who doesn’t just want responsibility. He expects it. And the Cavs are licking their chops, eager to hand it over. Still, there’s another level Mobley needs to tap into before he can handle the full weight.
Together, Mitchell and Mobley made Cleveland dangerous again. Giving the city a reason to believe this team is more than a feel-good story. That this group has substance. That this core, built around an All-NBA backcourt centerpiece and a two-way big with a sky-high ceiling, has staying power.
But let’s be clear: no one inside the organization is confusing these trophies for the real thing.
Not Mitchell, who’s in the prime of his career with his eyes firmly on June, not April. Not Mobley, who sees each honor as another reminder that he hasn’t scratched the surface. And not this front office, which knows All-NBA seasons are milestones — not destinations.
“I think we got players that made jumps, but now this is a different season. The playoffs are different. We’ve got to figure that out. I can promise you there’s no better motivator than a loss like this,” Atkinson said after losing in Game 5 to the Indiana Pacers and seeing their historic season end.
“There’s nothing that motivates more a player. I know that because the pain you live with every day until you get back here in May or June. You live with that, and there’s no better motivator for an athlete, for a professional athlete to kind of get back to work, say ‘Man, I got to get to that next level.’”
What the Cavs did this season wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t a fluke. But it also wasn’t the goal. Not anymore. Not with banners left to raise.
Because when your two best players are earning individual recognition at the highest level, the question shifts from if they can win big to when.
In Cleveland, that answer is no longer hypothetical. It’s now the expectation.