2017-18 NBA Awards Watch: Final picks for MVP, ROY and more

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

Final ballot:

1. Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)
2. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
3. Al Horford (Boston Cetlics)

With the Golden State Warriors’ defense barely squeezing into the top 10, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green (and early dark horse Kevin Durant) are pretty much taken out of the running. Ditto for Anthony Davis, the league’s leading shot-blocker and anchor for the NBA’s 13th-best defense.

However, the main big man for the Jazz, Sixers and Celtics each has a case for Defensive Player of the Year, especially since they play for the NBA’s three stingiest defenses.

Boston was the league’s best defense this season, and Al Horford’s versatility is at the heart of it all. However the Celtics still posted a defensive rating of 102.1 whenever he sat, compared to 101.1 with him on the floor. In other words, their league-best defense still survived without him thanks to guys like Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.

That leaves us with Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert, the defensive linchpins for their respective squads. Embiid averaged 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game this season, and the Sixers’ third-ranked defense was 4.3 points per 100 possessions stingier with him on the floor.

However, even that stark contrast pales in comparison to Gobert, who was Utah’s defense this season. The Jazz posted a 105.0 defensive rating whenever the Stifle Tower sat, which would’ve ranked 12th over the course of the entire season. That number shriveled up to a smothering 97.7 defensive rating that would’ve led the league when he was on the court, representing a difference of 7.3 points per 100 possessions.

Gobert only played 56 games this season, but his defensive impact was that profound for the NBA’s second-best defense. In the 15-game stretch (technically 16, since he only played two minutes in the Dec. 15 game against Boston where he got hurt) he missed in December and January, the Jazz’s defensive rating was a disastrous 110.6, ranking 27th in the association. Utah went 4-12 in that span.

Per Basketball-Reference, French Rejection ranked third in blocks, 11th in rebounding, second in defensive rating and second in Defensive Box Plus-Minus this year. Seeing as how Embiid only played 63 games and wasn’t quite as elite as the guy averaging 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, Gobert gets a well-deserved first DPOY trophy.