NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder 3.0: Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard breaking away

Utah Jazz behemoth Rudy Gobert rises one spot to the top rung on version 3.0 of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ladder and could be in position to win the award for a third consecutive season.

Gobert is fourth in the NBA at 2.0 blocks per game and on Jan. 25 posted his sixth game this season with at least five blocks when he swatted five shots in a win over the Dallas Mavericks. It was the 38th time in his career Gobert has blocked at least five shots in a game.

Among players with at least 40 games played this season, Gobert is eighth in the NBA defending within six feet of the rim, allowing opponents a field goal percentage of 48.8 percent in that zone.

Gobert, who was selected for his first All-Star Game appearance this season, continues to be a defensive nightmare in the paint, both with his rim protection and his defensive rebounding, where his 10.7 boards per night on the defensive window ranks third in the NBA, trailing only Andre Drummond (11.2) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (10.9).

He’s second in the NBA in overall rebounding at 14.4 per game. Drummond leads the NBA at 15.8 a night.

In the defensive metrics, Gobert is the runaway leader in Defensive RAPTOR at plus-7.0, while he is sixth among ladder qualifiers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus at plus-3.25.

While none of these defensive metrics by themselves is an end-all, be-all, looking at them within the context of consistency can paint a picture of how players are faring at the defensive end (along with the good old-fashioned eye test, of course).

Rudy Gobert continues to pass all of those tests, which could propel him to a history-matching third consecutive NBA Defensive Player of the Year trophy.