Mix and matching skills to visualize the ideal NBA player

Defense

Perimeter: Kawhi Leonard

Is there controversy by opting for a former two-time Defensive Player of the Year only 28 years of age?

Leonard’s management of his body has absolved him from the duties of guarding the opposing team’s best player on a nightly basis. Still, he can — and has — cause problems for all the game’s top offensive threats through the years.

Few possess his frame — 6’7” with a 7’3” wingspan and the aforementioned 11.5-inch hands — with Gregg Popovich-infused discipline and tenacity that combine to check all the boxes for elite perimeter defense.

Interior: Rudy Gobert

It’s hard to argue with the reigning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year who was playing his way into a three-peat this year.

Rudy Gobert is a menacing interior presence, a bouncy 7’2” with a 7’9” wingspan. Of the top 10 who contest the most shots per game within six feet of the basket, his defensive field goal percentage of 48.4 ranks second.

This doesn’t take into account all the attempts he turns away before they occur with a menacing presence that rightfully earned him the Stifle Tower nickname.

Rim protection: Rudy Gobert

Interior defense and rim protection can be mutually exclusive, but that’s not the case with Rudy Gobert.

His aforementioned size makes it quite difficult for even the most elite of finishers to get off a decent look around the basket. He’s seventh in the NBA with 2.0 blocks and contests the second-most shots per game as well.

It’s no coincidence the Utah Jazz have ranked among the top defensive units in recent years, thanks in large part to Gobert’s ability to limit points in the paint more than most.