Kawhi Leonard entered this season as the reigning two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner but there has been no shortage of potential successors that have made their marks early on this season. Leonard is still considered the betting favorite to win the award but the rest of the field has closed in on him including a power forward from the Golden State Warriors that has openly admitted he wants to win the award this season. He’s definitely played like he deserves it. Here is a look at the top NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidates right now.
SF: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
There is definitely an early case to be made for Leonard to be the frontrunner for his third straight NBA DPOY award. Leonard has become one of the most complete players in the association this season averaging 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists. However, his improved offensive statistics haven’t taken away from his consistent defensive numbers as he has averaged 2.5 steals and blocks per game. San Antonio remains one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and it’s almost impossible to make a case against Leonard as the one player in the league that is better at defending one-on-one matchups than anybody else. There are a number of early season candidates for NBA DPOY but right now there is no doubt that Leonard is still the frontrunner to win the award for a third year in a row.
PF: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
No other player has been more outspoken with his desire to win the award than Green, who has made it clear that he feels he deserves consideration both with his words and with his outstanding defensive play. Green has averaged 10.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists with an excellent 3.6 blocks and steals per game. Golden State has the potential to challenge its own record for most wins in a single season while contending for an NBA championship this year and Green’s versatility and dominance on defense has been an underrated factor in their success so far this season. What clearly helps his case more than anyone else on this list is that he’s playing for the best team in the NBA. He’s going to get more attention and more of the spotlight than the others – even Leonard. That should help him significantly in the voting if everything else holds for the four leaders on this list.
C: Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
Gasol is another big man that has presented a fairly impressive early season resume when it comes to the DPOY outlook as he has averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 blocks and steals per game. As is the case with the other two players on this list, Gasol’s overall production makes him that much more likely to contend for the award since he is still contributing on offense in addition to his outstanding defensive play. Gasol is among the biggest reasons why Memphis is in the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings and they will need him to stay healthy and continue to play at a high level in order to maximize their potential this season.
C: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
All of the preseason predictions about the Jazz being a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference seem pretty accurate right now as Utah sits sixth in the standings at 18-12 thanks in big part to the fact that they rank first in the NBA with an average of 94.9 points allowed per game.
Gobert has been central to Utah’s defensive success as he has averaged a ridiculous 2.7 blocks per game. In the month of December, that number has climbed to 3.0 blocks per game. Gobert is coming in to his own as one of the premier two-way big men in the NBA. Taking a look at some of his other averages, he’s scoring 12.4 points per game, notching 11.8 rebounds while shooting 69.7% from the field. He’s registered a double-double in nine straight games and there is no doubt that he is in the mix as a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
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