Uncover the league's elite protectors. See who's rising in the DPOY race, from rising stars to seasoned champions, after the All-Star break.
In this space over the last few days, I've ranked both the Top 5 MVP Candidates and the Top 5 NBA Contenders at the All-Star Break. Today will be the last entry in my Top 5 At The All-Star Break Trilogy. Much like the prior two lists, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be represented highly on the countdown of the Top 5 Defensive Player of the Year Candidates At The All-Star Break.
The Thunder had a player who finished #4 in DPOY voting just one year ago. Lu Dort received 11 first place votes, 12 second place votes and 18 third place votes, ranking only behind Evan Mobley, Dyson Daniels and Draymond Green. OKC had another player, Jalen Williams, who was selected Second Team All-Defense. Oklahoma City has yet another player, Alex Caruso, who is a former First Team and Second Team All-Defense member. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander even received a second place vote for Defensive Player of the Year. Let's keep it going. Cason Wallace opened up the current season by winning the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for October/November and leads the league in total steals.
And yet it's not any one of those five players who has a strong chance to win this year's DPOY trophy.
Honorable Mentions: Amen Thompson, Bam Adebayo, Derrick White.
5. Ausar Thompson. The Detroit Pistons boast the second best defense in the NBA and Thompson is their best player on that side of the court. Amen Thompson finished #5 in Defensive Player of the Year last year. Two twins finishing in the top 5 of DPOY voting in back to back years would make a great Jeopardy question 20 years from now.
4. Scottie Barnes. The Toronto Raptors are one of the biggest surprises of the NBA season. The secret to their success has been defense and Barnes is averaging 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
3. Rudy Gobert. The four time winner is firmly in the conversation in his age 33 season. The Minnesota Timberwolves' defensive rating when Gobert is on the court versus when he's off the court is drastic. He could break his tie with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace and become the first player to ever win five DPOYs, but it would likely take the top two candidates missing the minimum games requirement.
2. Chet Holmgren. On a team filled with elite defensive players, the 23 year old rim protector somehow still stands out. Holmgren's 46.6 opponent field goal percentage at the rim is second only to Isaiah Stewart and beats out the 7'6" alien residing at #1 by nearly 9 percentage points. OKC has the best defense in the league and that's Holmgren is the biggest individual (literally) reason why.
1. Victor Wembanyama. Personally, I think Holmgren and the San Antonio Spurs superstar both have a strong argument to take home the trophy. But Wembanyama's block and steals numbers give him a key statistical edge over the OKC big man. This race will almost certainly come down to whether or not Wembanyama meets the games requirement. If he does, most voters will likely immediately circle his name. If he does not, the trophy has a very good chance to end up in Oklahoma City.