NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder 3.0: Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard breaking away
By Phil Watson
. Previous: . kawhi leonard. 2. player. 77.
Over the last four weeks, Kawhi Leonard played in 10 games, notching 20 steals and 10 blocks while the LA Clippers were 9-1 when he played; 0-2 when he did not. Included in that most recent stretch was his season-high five steals to go with a block, 39 points, six rebounds and six assists in LA’s narrow win at New Orleans on Jan. 18.
It was the 23rd time Leonard has had at least five steals in a game, and the first since March 26, when he had six against the Chicago Bulls while still with the Toronto Raptors.
Leonard is third among ladder qualifiers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus at plus-3.93 and trails only Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela in FiveThirtyEight’s Defensive RAPTOR metric at plus-4.2.
Leonard is fifth in the NBA this season, averaging 1.9 steals per game. This would be his fourth career top-10 finish in the category if he maintains that pace; Leonard led the NBA with 2.3 steals per game in his first Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2014-15.
His 2.8 steal percentage is seventh in the league and the Clippers — 36-15 on the season — are 31-8 when Leonard is in the lineup and just 5-7 when he is rested — ahem — I mean, out with an injury.
It is the playing time that could end up costing him a third DPOY honor, particularly if it comes down to a race with a player who is in the lineup nearly every night.