NBA Awards Watch: Frontrunners for MVP, ROY and more through November

Defensive Player of the Year: Joel Embiid

With Rudy Gobert sidelined by injury, the league co-leader in blocks (along with Myles Turner) has to take a backseat for the time being.  As such, there are quite a few options to choose from, with no one really standing out at this point.

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Paul George is leading the league in defensive win shares and steals, with a whopping 2.8 per game. He’s been tenacious for the NBA’s third-best defense, but you could also argue Andre Roberson is the superior defender for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which the on/off-court numbers back up.

Draymond Green would get default votes if the season ended today since he remains instrumental for the Golden State Warriors’ fifth-ranked defense, but going that route would overlook Kevin Durant‘s career-high 2.0 blocks per game, which ranks fourth in the association. Unfortunately, they cancel each other out for the time being.

Then there’s the Al Horford-Marcus Smart-Jaylen Brown trio that is locking down opponents to the point of bolting them to the floor. With only 23 games to work with by way of sample size, it’s impossible to choose one of the three leaders for the league’s most stifling defense.

We should also note that Anthony Davis‘ 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals per game are just the tip of the iceberg for anchoring the New Orleans Pelicans’ defense, which boasts a 101.7 defensive rating with him on the floor. That number plummets to 114.8 when he sits, but what hurts his case is their overall defensive rating of 105.7, which ranks 18th in the association.

As such, we have to give the nod to Joel Embiid for the time being. Though his slow and lumbersome playing style may not look great out out on the perimeter, he’s still averaging 11.3 rebounds (seventh-most in the league), 1.8 blocks (sixth) and 0.7 steals per game.

Even better, the Philadelphia 76ers‘ 10th-ranked defense boasts a 99.6 defensive rating with him on the floor, which would rank third in the association. The moment he sits, that rating drops to 107.2, which would rank 22nd. With no clear frontrunner, Embiid’s clear importance to a top-10 defense gives him the narrow edge for now.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Al Horford/Marcus Smart/Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
4. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
5. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans