It was reported that Victor Wembanyama has suffered a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. To put in simpler terms, he has a blood clot, that will leave him sidelined for the remainder of the season.
His final season averages are 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and a league-leading 3.8 blocks per game, on .476/.352/.836 shooting splits, earning his first All-Star appearance. With his incredible defensive prowess, Wembanyama was a near lock to win the Defensive Player of the Year, and with that All-Defensive first team and likely an All-NBA team too.
Last season, the NBA implemented a new rule stating that only NBA players who play at least 65 games and play 20 or more minutes in those games, are eligible for all the NBA end-of-season rewards. In the case a player suffers a season-ending injury, they are still eligible if they play 62 games with 20+ minutes played.
Sadly, for Wembanyama, he's only played in 46 games this season. Even if the minimum game requirement wasn't in place, he would likely not have received any votes for the awards. Now that he's off the board, who is going to win the Defensive Player of the Year?
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Who is going to win the Defensive Player of the Year?
The leading favorites now that Victor Wembanyama is ineligible are Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Since it's harder for perimeter players to win Defensive Player of the Year, it's unlikely that they will this season. Of the three that were named, Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort have a much better chance than Daniels, despite him leading the league in steals. The Atlanta Hawks defense is average while the Oklahoma City Thunder are first, with Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander being their best defenders.
If health doesn't play a factor, the race is now probably between Mobley and Jackson. Both were top three finishers for the award in 2023, with Jackson taking home the trophy.
This season, Mobley is averaging 9.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks and he anchors the eighth-best defense in the NBA.
Jackson is averaging six rebounds, 1.3 steals, an 1.6 blocks, anchoring the seventh-best defense in the NBA.
Their defensive stats are very close and both teams get equally bad defensively when Mobley and Jackson are off the court. With the clear-cut favorite being gone, the voters should be distributed among these two players but with Jackson walking away as a second-time winner.
The Memphis Grizzlies are being led by Jackson defensively and have a slightly better defense than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since this is so close, the voters may be swayed if Memphis continues to have a better defense and because Jackson has a slight advantage in steals and blocks.
What will the All-Defensive teams look like?
With Wembanyama being removed from the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, this also removes him from the All-Defensive teams as well. With one spot opening, someone who would have originally been on the second team will be on the first team, and someone who wouldn't have made one will then be on the second team.
Along with the minimum game requirement, the NBA also changed the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams to positionless, meaning five centers could be All-Defensive first team.
It is hard to see a scenario where Evan Mobley and Jaren Jackson Jr. are not on All-Defensive first team, being that they're the favorites to win the Defensive Player of the Year. Given that the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort are the best defenders on the best defensive team and that Dyson Daniels is the first player to average three steals per game since 1991, they will also most likely be All-Defensive first team.
The players who might make All-Defensive second team are a little bit trickier. The Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves are top six in defensive rating. Rudy Gobert is still having a great defensive year and deserves to make the second team and the best defender on the Rockets is Amen Thompson.
Bam Adebayo has been on the All-Defensive team for the last five seasons and is having another great defensive season. The Miami Heat have a top 10 defense, while being top six when he's on versus a middle of the pack defense when's off.
For the final two spots, there may be a chance they go to Jalen Williams and Ivica Zubac. Williams is also a tremendous defender and a big reason why the Thunder are the best defensive team and Zubac is the anchor of the second-best defense. They both are two of the three highest in Defensive EPM, of the eligible players left in the league.
Victor Wembanyama's injury has changed a lot when it comes to the awards. Someone has a chance to win the Defensive Player of the Year, which most likely won't be possible if Wembanyama is healthy. An extra spot opened on not just the All-Defensive teams but the All-NBA teams as well.