Defensive Player of the Year
3. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
2. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
1. Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Individual defensive stats can be hard to properly digest, but when all of them are pointing in the same direction, that should tell you something. In this case, it tells us that Rudy Gobert is the hands-down favorite to win his third Defensive Player of the Year award.
As the anchor of the Utah Jazz‘s third-ranked defense, Gobert ranks first in defensive rebounds, first in blocks and first in defensive win shares. Aside from some of these more basic stats, he’s drastically improved as an isolation defender when teams try to switch him onto a smaller guard and put him on an island. Opponents are only shooting 31 percent on isos, putting him in the 87th percentile despite defending the eighth-most isolation possessions in the NBA.
He’s swallowing any ill-fated post-up attempts whole, allowing only 28.8 percent shooting on those possessions — the lowest percentage (by far) of anyone who’s defended at least 30 post-ups this season. He’s only allowing 0.67 points per possession when defending the pick-and-roll ball-handler (93rd percentile), making him a routine nightmare to deal with in pick-and-rolls. Every advanced defensive metric points to Gobert, and for a regular-season award that doesn’t have to worry about unfavorable playoff matchups or him being played off the floor, the choice is clear.
Ben Simmons gets the nod for third place as the most versatile defender on the NBA’s second-stingiest defense. Teammate Joel Embiid is worthy of some DPOY votes too, but Simmons’ ability to guard all five positions — especially point guard — without possessing the weaknesses of a typical drop-back big makes him more valuable to the Philadelphia 76ers‘ schemes.
Draymond Green plays a similar role for the Golden State Warriors, only at a higher level. He’s smarter at reading defenses ahead of time, especially as a help defender, and his optimized role as a small-ball 5 still unlocks a different level for the Dubs that Simmons just doesn’t for the Sixers. Green’s ever-so-slight edge in steals (1.7 per game to 1.6) and blocks (0.8 per game to 0.6) is basically a wash, but Green is a greater rim deterrent, communicator and general conductor of another top-five defense.
Clint Capela narrowly misses the cut as the NBA’s leading rebounder, a solid shot-blocker and an all-around solid defender. Myles Turner was in the running as the NBA’s lead shot-blocker until he got hurt. Giannis Antetokounmpo might be the most dangerous defender in a playoff series, but the Bucks’ new defensive schemes led to Milwaukee taking a small step backward on that end this year. Embiid, Bam Adebayo, Jrue Holiday, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Matisse Thybulle all deserve consideration for the All-Defensive Teams but don’t quite have a case for winning DPOY outright.