Although Marcus Smart broke the trend during the 2021-22 season, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award tends to go to a power forward or center. After all, most centers are utilized for their length in order to block shots and protect the paint nowadays. Jaren Jackson Jr. was the recipient of this award last season after leading the league in blocked shots, and so far this season, Rudy Gobert has once again stuck out as the best defensive big man in the NBA.
A three-time Defensive Player of the Year award recipient from when he was with the Utah Jazz, Gobert is one of eight players in the league by averaging at least two blocks per game. He also leads the league in defensive rating and defensive win shares, two categories that oftentimes point in the direction of the player who will be named the Defensive Player of the Year.
What really sets Gobert apart this season from others in regard to this award is that the Minnesota Timberwolves are elite on defense.
Gobert helped the Timberwolves achieve 10th in defensive rating last season. At the All-Star break, Minnesota now finds themselves ranked first in defensive rating, and they are only allowing their opponents to score 106.7 points per game, the best mark in the league. The thing about Gobert is that he is simply a smart defender in terms of where he positions himself on the court.
While he may not block every single shot, Gobert's presence in the paint forces opponents to change their philosophy and point of attack. Sometimes, this is just as good as a block, especially since Gobert's ability to alter shots oftentimes ends up in turnovers and points at the other end for the Timberwolves.
In the midst of the NBA All-Star break, ClutchPoints conducted a poll featuring media members from around the country, some of whom are official voters the league uses to determine the winner of their end-of-season awards. Some cover the league at large, while others cover individual teams. Nonetheless, each media member was asked a variety of questions pertaining to the major awards and the 2024 NBA Finals.
ClutchPoints Full NBA Midseason Media Poll
Most Valuable Player | Rookie of the Year | Most Improved Player|
Coach of the Year | Sixth Man of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year
In terms of who the media believes will win this season's Defensive Player of the Year award, Gobert is the obvious choice. At this point, especially based on the media voting results, it would be a shock if the Timberwolves' center doesn't win this award for the fourth time in his career.
Below are the results from the voting that took place during the All-Star break for the 2023-24 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
ClutchPoints 2023-24 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Media Poll results
1. Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves) – 76.7%
T-2. Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) – 6.7%
T-2. Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) – 6.7%
T-2. Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers) – 6.7%
3. OG Anunoby (Toronto Raptors) – 3.3%
Rudy Gobert's defensive excellence
The difference between Gobert and the rest of the field regarding this season's race for the Defensive Player of the Year award is that the Timberwolves big man has evolved his defensive presence. In the past, especially with the Jazz, Gobert would only stay in the paint and look to block every shot that came his way. This may still be true regarding his shot-blocking presence, but Gobert truly looks quicker when switching onto players out on the perimeter. Not to mention, his understanding of where to be on the court at all times is so much more advanced than that of other players.
Gobert has also noticed this about his game, telling NBA.com earlier this season that he can guard anyone on the floor.
“It’s been fun for me to have to be uncomfortable,” Gobert said. “Now I’m in a place where I’m comfortable guarding any lineup. Even switching. There’s a narrative out there I’m not good guarding on the switch, but if you look at the numbers and the film, I was allowing the lowest points on switches a couple of years ago.”
The Timberwolves being first in defensive rating and owning the best record in the Western Conference also shines the spotlight on Gobert's defensive excellence. These two metrics certainly don't hurt his case for the award.
No matter what, people are always going to say that Minnesota lost the Gobert trade with the Jazz simply because they gave up virtually every future asset they owned for a player who has struggled at times on offense. However, what the Timberwolves have received from Gobert on defense has transformed them into a real contending threat.
In his first season with the team, Gobert struggled to find his identity and it didn't seem like he had the full trust of his teammates. This season, the script has flipped for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, as he is once again finding himself as his team's anchor underneath. The belief Gobert holds in himself has also had a huge impact on the success he has been finding defensively. Change always tends to play a factor in how players perform. For Gobert, finally becoming comfortable with Minnesota and his role has allowed him to unlock the defensive understanding we were used to seeing.
The Timberwolves are winning games, they are the best defensive team in basketball, and Gobert ranks first in both defensive rating and defensive win shares. He is very clearly the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, and the media poll at the All-Star break reflects this. Gobert received just under 80 percent of the votes for this award in the NBA media poll.
Other Defensive Player of the Year candidates
There really is no race for Defensive Player of the Year at this point in the season. Others, such as Victor Wembanyama, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis, may receive some votes from people who don't want to give the award to Gobert again, but this award is going to have the widest gap in terms of voting numbers from first-place to second-place. Essentially, those who finish behind Gobert in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year will be vying for a spot on the All-Defensive First Team.
As far as the other candidates go, Wembanyama is definitely the name that sticks out. In his first season with the San Antonio Spurs, Wemby has encapsulated the entire NBA world because of his length and multidimensional skills. Everyone could have guessed that the rookie first-overall pick would be one of the league's best shot blockers, and that has been the case this season.
Wembanyama currently leads all players in blocked shots, averaging 3.2 blocks per game. He may not be close to Mark Eaton's insane 5.56 blocks per game record during the 1984-85 season, but the fact that he may lead the league averaging more than three blocks a game when all is said and done is ridiculous. Currently ranked fifth in defensive rating, Wembanyama is going to hear his name in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year until the end of his career.
Adebayo and Davis are two other intriguing names to consider for this award, as they are both highly regarded as two of the better paint protectors in the NBA. Compared to everyone else, Adebayo is much more well-equipped to guard any position. His lateral quickness allows him to guard any position, and the Miami Heat lean on Bam to always make plays defensively. The same can be said about the Los Angeles Lakers and Davis, as he more often than not shows off his versatility on the perimeter as a defender in pick-and-roll sets.
Wembanyama, Adebayo, and Davis each received a couple of votes in the NBA media poll for Defensive Player of the Year. New York Knicks wing OG Anunoby was the only other player to receive consideration for this award.
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