Rudy Gobert is on his way to winning his fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award, which would tie him with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most in NBA history.
With the All-Star break just a few days away, Gobert is a prohibitive favorite at SI Sportsbook with -901 odds to add to his trophy case. His role as the anchor of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ top-ranked defense has him well ahead of the field with roughly 30 games remaining.
Rookie Chet Holmgren (+2500) has the next-best odds, followed by Bam Adebayo (+2800), and then Anthony Davis and rookie Victor Wembanyama are tied at +3300. A first-year player has never won Defensive Player of the Year and though Adebayo and Davis have each been named to four All-Defensive Teams, neither of them has ever won the award.
Gobert began the year with long odds to earn DPOY honors for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign, but those have shortened dramatically over the last several months. The Timberwolves (38–16) sit atop the Western Conference and have the second-best record in the NBA — their stingy defense, which allows a league-low 107 points per game, is a big reason why.
The advanced statistics help make the case for Gobert, whose counting stats are also up from his first year in Minnesota. Gobert leads the league in defensive win shares and ranks third in total rebound percentage. His blocks are up to 2.1 per game after falling to 1.4 last season and only the Chicago Bulls allow fewer points in the paint per game than the T-Wolves. Gobert has also only missed one game this season, which is important as players now must appear in at least 65 in order to be eligible for postseason awards.
Holmgren has been a revelation for the Oklahoma City Thunder (37–17), who trail the Timberwolves by just one game in the standings. After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to a foot injury, he’s yet to miss a game and he averages the fourth-most blocks (2.6) in the league. Oklahoma City ranks fifth in defensive rating and allows the third-fewest points per game in the paint thanks to Holmgren, who’s also eighth in defensive win shares.
Adebayo has finished top-five in Defensive Player of the Year voting each of the last four years, but he will be deemed ineligible this season if he misses more than seven of the Miami Heat’s final 28 games. Miami is on its way to a fourth consecutive season with a top-10 defense and Adebayo is the heart of that unit. He averages one block and one steal per game and he’s pulling down a career-high 10.6 rebounds to boot.
Davis’s Los Angeles Lakers (29–26) have a middling record and defense, but he’s still having an outstanding statistical season. He’s fifth in blocks (2.5) and tied for fourth in rebounds (12.1) per game and he’s on pace for his healthiest campaign in years as he’s missed only four games so far. Davis is also tied with Karl-Anthony Towns for the second-most win shares behind Gobert.
Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs (11–43) are a sieve on defense, allowing over 120 points per game and coming in at No. 24 in defensive rating. Wembanyama is doing what he can to prop up that unit, leading the league in blocks per game (3.2). He even put up a points-rebounds-blocks triple-double this week, something no player had done in three years
The Spurs’ standing as the worst team in the West is a strong mark against Wembanyama, though, especially with Gobert’s Timberwolves in first place. Still, Wembanyama has only missed six games to date, so he should at least be eligible. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the league in blocks a season ago (3.0) when he was named DPOY, but the Memphis Grizzlies also finished with the second-best record in the West and No. 3 in defensive rating — San Antonio is nowhere near either mark.
After Davis and Wembanyama, the odds drop off quite a bit to New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (+5000) and then even further to Milwaukee Bucks teammates Jrue Holiday (+12500) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (+12500). The way this race is shaping up, Defensive Player of the Year is Gobert’s award to lose. However, any race is far from a done deal until the favorite clears that 65-game requirement.
2023-24 NBA DPOY Odds
Rudy Gobert -901
Chet Holmgren +2500
Bam Adebayo +2800
Anthony Davis +3300
Victor Wembanyama +3300
O.G. Anunoby +5000
Giannis Antetokounmpo +12500
Jrue Holiday +12500
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