Winner: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Speaking of staying healthy, if Embiid gets a healthy season under his belt he could not only be vying for DPOY awards but MVP as well. He is a truly unique defensive presence in this league, the amount of ground he can cover so quickly at his size is shocking.
As previously mentioned his 96.8 defensive rating led all centers who played at least 15 minutes a game and led everyone who played 30+ minutes, regardless of position(sorry, Andre Ingram, your 2 games don’t qualify you).
He still bites on fakes a little too often and can be out of control when going for blocks, but that’s just nitpicking, he is easily one of the best defenders in the association and will only get better in the next few seasons, he’ll win his first DPOY this season, but likely not his last.