Defensive Player of the Year
Honorable Mentions:
Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors
Two-time DPOY winner Kawhi Leonard is not just one of the best wing defenders in the league, he is the best wing defender in the league. He can also easily switch on to guards and not miss a beat, as well as holding his own with some big men. Leonard is the only guy on this list who can reasonably guard 1 through 5 for short periods. Gobert is amazing but wouldn’t stand a chance against some of the quicker point guards in this league, Embiid and Davis are a little more fleet-footed but still can’t be expected to stop guards anywhere but under the rim.
The Klaw can put the clamp on nearly anybody, he is known as a star stopper in a league where stars cannot really be stopped. He earned that moniker for a reason, making it tougher for the elite players to score 1 on 1 than any other active player.
His name needs to be in the conversation every year he is healthy. There is a reason he is the only non-big to win the award since Ron Artest, AKA Metta World Peace, did in 2003-04.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
The Brow probably has the best chance in the league at joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to win DPOY and MVP in the same season, though Kawhi has an opportunity as well. After the all-star break when DeMarcus Cousins was gone and he was the sole big man on the floor, he averaged a ridiculous 3.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game.
He already led the league in blocks at 2.5(next was Clint Capela with 1.8), and if he maintained his steal numbers throughout the entire year it would have been good for 4th overall, only 0.04 away from 2nd place Paul George. It’s obvious that Davis can be a huge presence on both ends of the floor, he is only now entering his prime, expect him to have an opportunity to get his first DPOY award.
Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
The Stifle Tower is quite possibly the best rim protector in the league. He is going to be in the DPOY conversation for years to come if he stays healthy. All he needed was 56 games last season to bring home the award.
He led the entire league in defensive win shares and his 97.4 defensive rating was eclipsed only by Joel Embiid‘s 96.8 among centers who played at least 15 minutes a game. He is, without a doubt, one of the elite defenders in this league.