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NBA midseason awards: Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player of the Year

NBC Sports
·2 min read
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Minnesota Timberwolves v Detroit Pistons
Minnesota Timberwolves v Detroit Pistons

We've reached the midpoint of an NBA season filled with the unexpected — who expected we'd see the Warriors dynasty crumbling while the Oklahoma City Thunder's seems ready to take off. The midpoint also means it's time to take stock of the NBA postseason awards. All week long, we will make our picks for some of the NBA's top awards at this point in the season. Today:

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

2. Joel Embiid
3. Anthony Davis

No award is a total runaway halfway through the season, but this one is close.

Minnesota has the best defense in the NBA this season and Rudy Gobert is the heart of it — he has returned to Utah-level defense in the paint (when he won three DPOY awards). Teams are not taking a lot of shots in the paint against the Timberwolves and opponents are shooting just 49.6% at the rim against Gobert. He's also been asked to switch out on the perimeter at points and has held his own.

It's possible someone else on this list will rise up and take the Defensive Player of the Year award, but Gobert has a healthy head start.

Joel Embiid has been elite in the paint for a 76ers team with the sixth-best defense in the NBA. Embiid could challenge Gobert for the award but — much like with his MVP bid — there are serious doubts he will play the league-mandated 65 games to qualify.

Anthony Davis has been a force in the paint this season for the Lakers, with Darvin Ham asking a lot of him considering the quality of perimeter defenders he has played with. Davis passes all the statistical tests, but if the Lakers don't finish in the top 10 (at least) in defense he will struggle to get the votes he needs.

Bam Adebayo just missed the cut for me and there's a good chance he will be somewhere in the top three come the end of the season (especially if Embiid doesn't play in 65 games). His versatility and athleticism protecting the rim — keeping teams from getting a lot of shots inside against Miami — has him on the edge of making it.

Jalen Suggs is another player close to jumping into the top three for me, he has become the best perimeter defender in the league (and I put more value on perimeter defenders than some voters. Giannis Antetokounmpo also is in the mix for the award.

Cleveland's Evan Mobley would have been on this list, likely in the top three, but he has already missed too many games to qualify for the end-of-season awards. Rookie Chet Holmgren has also been fantastic on defense but will not win this award.