Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels leads the NBA in both steals and deflections.
Two loud noises tell the tale of the NBA’s Kia Defensive Player of the Year Award race.
The first big whoosh was the air that leaked out of shooters’ confidence whenever they rose for a shot, only to see San Antonio’s 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama in their vicinity, ready to abuse their attempts with his pterodactyl reach.
The second one? The vacuum that was created the instant Wembanyama was shut down Feb. 20 for the rest of the 2024-25 season due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The Spurs’ second-year big man was looking like a shoo-in to win his first of what could be many Hakeem Olajuwon Trophies in balloting for the league’s top overall defender.
With Wembanyama on the court, San Antonio’s defensive efficiency of 110.0 would be tied for fifth. Without him, their 116.2 would rank 27th. He still leads the league in blocked shots, his 176 still 54% more than No. 2 Brook Lopez’s 114. The 21-year-old ranks fourth in opponents’ field-goal differential (-6.6%) and is even stingier inside (-13.2% within six feet, -9.8% within 10).
But he’s done now, and his 46 appearances will keep him far short of the NBA’s 65-game minimum for most of its major awards. Someone else has an opportunity to snag the award in what might be a now-or-never proposition for rivals whose careers will end before Wemby’s.
For the record, only six active players have DPOYs on their resumes, accounting for the past 10 awards. That short list: Rudy Gobert (4), Kawhi Leonard (2) and Draymond Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Marcus Smart and Jaren Jackson Jr. with one each.
Injuries that will limit appearance totals, sagging team fortunes or both will hurt the prospects of some defensive stalwarts such as Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Walker Kessler and Toumani Camara (the Western Conference Kia Defensive Player for February).
But here are 10 players to watch, listed in alphabetical order, as top DPOY contenders based on their roles, their resumes, their reputations and their work this season:
The Heat’s big man has circled this award for years now. He’s a five-time All-Defensive selection who has finished in the Top 5 of DPOY balloting for the past five seasons, including third last year. Miami still treasures Adebayo’s versatility and intensity on defense, but its ranking is down to 12th from 5th in 2023-24.
This season, Adebayo’s increased minutes at power forward have muddied his defensive profile too (fewest blocks per game since his rookie season, for example). He won’t lobby the voters, but he does say: “In my mind, I think I’m the best versatile defender in the league.”
Daniels, at 3 steals per game, is the only player averaging more than 1.8 who is likely to reach the 65-appearance cutoff. Also a worthy choice as Most Improved Player, the Hawks wing is on pace for 237 steals if he finishes out Atlanta’s schedule. That would be the most in a season in 33 years, dating back to John Stockton’s 244 in 1991-92. With 344 deflections, he’s running away from No. 2 Kelly Oubre Jr. (233). It’s not just the gaudy numbers, either – Daniels’ timing is impeccable too.
CARIS LEVERT SCORES OFF THE DYSON DANIELS STEAL 😤😤
Hawks get the victory as time expires! #TissotBuzzerBeater #YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/OyD1WdfBZP
— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2025
Dort faces a bit of a problem, based on OKC’s defensive dominance this season and the number of teammates involved in that No. 1 efficiency rating. Alex Caruso is the only player in the league who has appeared in at least 30 games with a rating below 100 (99.7). Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all contribute to the Thunder’s stinginess. And Dort has yet to be one of the 10 guys to make an All-Defensive squad each season.
But it wasn’t that long ago Bucks guard Damian Lillard was calling Dort the best defender in the league, saying he has “the perfect balance of strength, quickness, speed and desire.” And Dort has targeted the award: “If you ask me if I deserve it, I would say yes, just because of what I bring every night, all the matchups that I got to face.”
Voter fatigue is a concept most prevalent in MVP discussions, but it could be as legit here. After all, Gobert has won the DPOY four times, tied with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most ever (Olajuwon curiously only won it twice). A five-time winner would have a claim as greatest defender ever, a title most experts bestow on Boston’s Bill Russell from the pre-DPOY days.
Beyond all that, though, Gobert’s defensive rating (108.2) is the second-highest of his career and his defensive rebound percentage (20.0) is his lowest. Minnesota had the league’s No. 1 defense last season when the big Frenchman won the award, but the Wolves have slipped to sixth this season.
It’s been eight years since Green was named the league’s top defender in 2017. But the hub of the Warriors’ wheel earned three of his eight All-Defensive berths after turning 30 and finished fourth in DPOY voting as recently as 2023. Golden State ranks eighth defensively, but most of Green’s impact – he’s at +7.1 net rating – comes on the offensive end.
Green, in his 13th season, turned 35 Tuesday, which would make him the oldest DPOY winner. Regardless, he now leans more on guile than physical tools defensively. Said coach Steve Kerr at the season’s start: “Draymond has a unique ability to be physical without fouling. It’s because he’s so smart, he knows the angles, he understands how to use his strength and his long arms to make people have to shoot over him.”
Said Green: “I’ve earned the right to be in the conversation. Every game I’m coming out here motivated defensively to get back on the first team All-Defense.”
Jackson won this award two seasons ago, often roaming like a free safety to provide help defense. That produced 3 blocks per game, Jackson’s first All-Star appearance and a 51-31 record for the Grizzlies. Last season’s mess dragged him down as well, but both parties are on track again.
His defensive rating of 107.3 is improved from 113.9 a year ago, more in line with the 106.6 when he won the DPOY. His net rating has traveled a similar path, from 9.8 to -7.3 back into the black now at 9.0. Among likely qualifiers (65 games min.), he currently ranks third in field goal differential (-6.5%) guarding opposing shooters. An ankle sprain against Atlanta Monday sat him down early, however, and he was listed out for the OKC game Wednesday.
Mobley is the first repeat winner of a Defensive Player of the Month award, which has him trending in the right direction. His defensive rating is down to 107.0 this season and his net rating of 14.7 is more than double his previous best. He was an All-Defensive pick in 2022-23, when he placed third in DPOY voting. But this is a more mature, more versatile, more adept Mobley four seasons in, responsible for making work so much of what the Cavaliers do at both ends.
“I don’t know how many guys who have come into the league like him and changed a defensive profile for a team,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson told NBA.com Tuesday. “He’s got all the characteristics of a great defender. Smart, switchable, rim protector, can guard the 3-point line and the interior. And transition defense too, he’ll run back. He’s the modern Defensive Player of the Year to me.”
One more stat: Of the seven players contesting at least 10 shots per game, Mobley (10.4) is the only one who’s not a true center. So Mobley = mobility, too.
The Eastern Conference @Kia Defensive Player of the Month for February is Evan Mobley! #KiaDPOTM pic.twitter.com/jBmwjVNhDc
— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2025
The Rockets (109.8) under coach Ime Udoka are one of only four teams with a defensive efficiency rating below 110. They have several feisty defenders, including Dillon Brooks, Jae’Sean Tate and Fred VanVleet, but none of them has the quick-twitch athletic bundle of skills to match Thompson.
In his second season, the 6-foot-7, 209-pound Thompson took a significant step toward All-Defensive attention by earning the West’s Defensive Player of the Month honors in January. Opponents are shooting 40.8% against him, which ranks fifth among defenders capable of reaching the 65-game minimum for award consideration. And remember, most of those shooters are the other guys’ top scorers, an assignment Thompson routinely draws.
If Dort is the Thunder’s best defender – and that’s a hotly contested title on that roster – there’s no dissent that Williams is the team’s most important defender. He’s the one pressed into action guarding “one through five” as needed, a 6-foot-6 shape-shifter who can sit down to cover point guards on one possession, then cope with a nine-inch differential when facing Wembanyama on the next.
Appropriately, Williams recently suggested that the NBA broaden its appreciation of defensive players in a couple of ways. One, he noted that naming just two All-Defensive squads among the annual postseason honors is too limiting. There are three All-NBA teams, why not three for D?
Also, Williams said on a podcast that the apples-and-oranges dilemma of judging perimeter defense vs. rim protection could be solved by awarding a trophy to the top practitioner of each. Since Michael Jordan was named DPOY in 1988, only two guards – Gary Payton in 1996 and Smart in 2022 – have won it.
“This is not a diss to any big that gets it, because every big that has gotten it is deserving,” Williams said. “But defense is very different for certain players. It’s just a big [winning it] every year and I feel like they base it off blocks.”
In nine seasons, the Clippers big man never has sniffed an All-Defensive mention. His game has taken a sizable leap offensively, but it’s his defense that makes him so valuable to LA.
Zubac ranks fourth in defensive rebound percentage (30.4) and seventh in contested shots. His defensive rating overall is 107.5. Opponents shoot 9.5% worse on shots within six feet against the 7-footer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 9.2% worse inside 10 feet.
“I pride myself on that end of the floor,” Zubac told Forbes.com recently. “Especially coming into the league, when nobody thought I could defend.”
Zubac credits experience and learning from teammates, even a point guard like Patrick Beverly, for helping him improve. The addition of Jeff Van Gundy to Ty Lue’s coaching staff has helped him, too, while boosting the Clippers from 16th last season to 3rd in defensive efficiency and from 13th to 7th in rebound percentage.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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