Rudy Gobert moves up NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder 2.0

Rob Pelinka might be a contender for NBA Executive of the Year (or not), but there’s no debating the fact Anthony Davis has been one of the best additions from last summer’s game of musical roster spots for what he’s done for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are already approaching last season’s total of 37 victories and they’re not at the midpoint of the season yet, having played just 38 games through Friday night. Davis has been mostly healthy, though bothered at different times by a sore shoulder, a sprained ankle and most recently a bruised backside.

He’s been so healthy, in fact, he’s on pace to play in a career-high 76 games, though that might dip if Los Angeles is able to secure a top seed in the Western Conference bracket early enough to give some of their key players some R&R late in the regular-season grind.

Davis is averaging 2.6 blocks per game this season, second in the NBA behind Hassan Whiteside of the Portland Trail Blazers, and is also getting 1.5 steals per game. Blocks and steals are not the only measures for defensive quality, however. Davis is also eighth in FiveThirtyEight’s Defensive RAPTOR rating.

He was a three-time All-Defensive selection during his seven seasons in New Orleans, but has yet to cop a Defensive Player of the Year nod.