NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2018-19 Defensive Player of the Year award

1. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans

As the league’s reigning shot-blocker from last season, Anthony Davis is ready to add the first major NBA award to his trophy case. He was agonizingly close last season, finishing second in DPOY voting and earning All-Defensive First Team honors alongside Rudy Gobert.

AD also finished second in MVP voting too, averaging a whopping 28.1 points per game. However, he still managed to make his mark on the defensive end, tallying 11.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. The New Orleans Pelicans‘ defense was 6.8 points stingier per 100 possessions with the Brow roaming the paint.

The real reason Anthony Davis takes the No. 1 spot on this list, however, is what happened to the Pelicans’ defense after DeMarcus Cousins‘ season-ending injury shifted Davis over to his true position at the 5. Before Boogie’s injury, New Orleans ranked 22nd in defensive rating, giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions. After the fact, it ranked fifth, with a defensive rating of 103.7.

With Cousins heading to Golden State, Nikola Mirotic likely to start at the stretch-4 spot and Julius Randle coming off the bench, Davis can once again wreak havoc at the center spot, only this time, for a full season. If the Pelicans’ 14th-ranked defense can leap into the top-10, Anthony Davis won’t just be an MVP candidate, but a frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year too.