Utah Jazz: Team awards at midway point in 2018-19 season

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

Basically since he broke into the league in 2013, Rudy Gobert has been a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate for the Jazz, not only among the team itself but in the NBA in general.

So far in the 2018-19 campaign, that has been the case once again.

In 43 games this season, Gobert is averaging a career-high 14.7 points, 12.5 rebounds (second-best of his career), two blocks, a career-high two assists and career-high 0.9 steals in 31.3 minutes per game.

According to basketball-reference, Gobert is recording a Defensive Box Plus/Minus total of plus-4.9, which is the highest on the team. He is also tallying a plus/minus of plus-6.7 and holds a Value Over Replacement mark of 3.0, both team-best totals.

For the 2017-18 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-Defensive Team member, Gobert is on pace for not only a career-best season in his still young NBA career, but he is once again making his presence felt on the defensive end of the floor.

And for all of those reasons, the midseason team Defensive Player of the Year award has to go to Gobert.