The Debate for NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Only Gets Tougher from Here
Still surprised at how the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year race turned out? Confused as to how Kawhi Leonard took down Draymond Green? Angry over Anthony Davis' lack of first-place votes? Furious that Rudy Gobert didn't receive more recognition?
Well, I wish could tell you it's going to get easier from here.
Actually, no I don't. And it won't.
The Defensive Player of the Year conversation isn't going to thin out anytime soon. This season's bloodbath will be back next year, sporting familiar faces as well as new ones. There's that much individual defensive talent around the league right now, the most noteworthy of which we will now celebrate.
Do yourself a favor and learn to embrace the chaos. Playing defense is sexy again.
Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Might at well start with the new champ.
Leonard didn't figure heavily into the Defensive Player of the Year debate for much of this season. Sure, he received some dap. He earned All-Defensive Second Team honors last year and has long been touted as a premier perimeter defender—a LeBron James stopper, even.
But it came as a shock when he won. In part because he actually received fewer first-place votes than Green, as the folks over at Sports Illustrated will show below; mostly because Green's name has been all over this thing for months:
This doesn't mean Leonard isn't a deserving winner. Rather, as ESPN.com's Alok Pattani explains, it signifies a shift in the way this award is being judged:
"Evaluating defense in basketball is quite difficult for many reasons, but vast improvements have been made to NBA defensive metrics over the last few years. Leonard winning the Defensive Player of the Year award may be kind of shocking in terms of historical precedent, but it shows that a sizable portion of the media is beginning to pay attention to those better methods of evaluation and making smarter choices as a result.
"
Statistically speaking, it's impossible to make a case against Leonard. The San Antonio Spurs were 5.1 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor compared to without, going from the equivalent of the league's stingiest defense to a 17th-ranked unit.
Opposing small and power forwards mustered an average player efficiency of 12.8 when going up against Leonard as well, according to 82games.com. His positional versatility makes it easier for the Spurs to disrupt rival offenses and defend pivotal possessions late in games—even if that entails Leonard guarding a point guard, and even if that point guard is, say, Stephen Curry.
Watching Leonard play defense is, above all else, fun. There's a patterned aggression to the way he flies over screens and reacts to dribble drives. He is a turnover-forcing machine and shot-blocking threat, and his indifferent disposition totally clashes with the flashy, basket-saving plays he makes.
Best of all, he's only 23. Much like the hypercompetitive atmosphere of the Defensive Player of the Year field, he isn't going anywhere.
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Green is totally not sweating the Defensive Player of the Year decision, per ESPN.com's Ethan Sherwood Strauss:
Perhaps Green's devil-may-care reaction is on display because he and the Warriors are in the midst of a championship pursuit. Or perhaps he just knows he'll have other opportunities to win.
Or maybe he doesn't need a fancy-smancy award to know that he's awesome.
The Warriors, owners of an Association-best defense, allowed 6.1 points per 100 possessions fewer when Green was on the floor during the regular season. Their entire defensive system, in fact, is predicated on him switching like crazy and guarding all five positions.
Standing at 6'7" on stilts, Green's ability to body up and contest shots in the post is beyond impressive. Opponents shoot 8.6 percentage points below average against him when they're within 10 feet of the basket. That's absurd.
There isn't a more versatile defender in the NBA. Not James, not Leonard, not anyone else. And while this is an award that has historically favored big men—10 of the last 11 winners have been traditional power forwards or centers—Green defends like a big man. And a swingman. And a point guard. And whatever other classification exists.
That should keep him in this discussion for years to come.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Come to terms with Davis being a genuine Defensive Player of the Year threat, because it's going to happen.
It didn't happen this season because his Pelicans weren't a good defensive team. They ranked 22nd in points allowed per 100 possessions and often tried to survive by having Davis stalk the ball.
To Davis' credit, he managed to excel on an individual level. He averaged a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game and is now just the fourth player, age 22 or younger, to post a block percentage of 6.0 and steal percentage of 2.0 in the same season.
Davis' ability to send back shots after chasing opposing shooters off the three-point line is unmatched.
Strike that, it's unprecedented. It's also why the Warriors are shooting just 34 percent from deep and connecting on only 23.8 percent of their attempts at the iron against Davis in their first-round series against New Orleans.
Unlike Green, Davis isn't the quintessential guard-everyone defender. But he comes pretty darn close and will inevitably get there.
Until then, he'll just use his long arms to simultaneously police the rim and deter jump shots, staking his claim as one of the game's most formidable defenders.
Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Watch your back, bucket-blitzers everywhere.
Rudy Gobert wants you to know that Rudy Gobert is coming:
Making a case for Gobert as an up-and-coming Defensive Player of the Year candidate isn't especially difficult. In reality, all you need to do is watch every single defensive set he was part of this past season.
From the moment Gobert entered the starting five through the end of the 2014-15 calendar, Utah maintained the NBA's best defense, relinquishing a mere 94.8 points per 100 possessions. And though we could pretend like it was close, we'd be lying. The Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks tied for second place with defensive ratings that were five points higher (99.4) during that span.
Before chalking this up to a coincidence, consider this: It's not.
Gobert was born for the Defensive Player of the Year chase, and the Jazz are planning their system accordingly. Their perimeter defenders funnel ball-handlers into the paint, and the acting power forward assumes any help-defense duties outside the restricted area—all so Gobert can do things like this:
The upshot here is Gobert will be put on plenty of posters in the coming seasons. He seldom slides away from the rim and would rather see his face on the wrong end of someone's bedroom-wall decor than commit defensive treason.
Which, for the record, is totally cool. For someone who faces so many point-blank attempts, Gobert doesn't get put on posters often.
Of the 122 players who contested at least four shots at the iron per game this past season, the 22-year-old finished first in opponent field-goal percentage, holding rival scorers to a 40.4 percent clip. He also blocked 7 percent of all shots he encountered, the league's second-best mark.
What makes Gobert truly special, though, is his willingness to pick up assignments anywhere and everywhere. The Jazz prefer to keep him down low, but he's often forced to step out and cut off dribble penetration or salvage blown pick-and-roll prevention when Derrick Favors isn't on the floor.
That's totally cool, too, because while the 7'2" behemoth isn't particularly quick, he knows how to get a hand on everything.
Enjoy the summer, then, Mr. Gobert. The Defensive Player of the Year competition will see you next season.
Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers
Nerlens Noel has a message for everyone following his rookie campaign: He's here too.
Although his defensive fortitude wasn't reflected in the voting—no first- or second-place votes—Noel served as the foundation for a top-12 defense. That's really something considering the Sixers ranked 27th in defensive efficiency for 2013-14.
With the length of a center and lateral mobility of a small forward, Noel has quickly established himself as a defensive dynamo. He is the first rookie in league history to average at least 1.8 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, and his defensive box plus/minus (4.5) ranks third among all the first-timers ever.
"Noel is not just sticking his long arms out to disrupt passing lanes," wrote SI.com's Alex Hampl. "On some of his steals, he flashes quick hands that just aren’t common among big man, nimbly poking balls away from players who should ostensibly be more adept ball handlers."
This is a skill set the Sixers can build a top-tier defense around. Noel's versatility is deliberate, not accidental. He isn't a rim-protecting specialist; he will leave the paint to deter and disturb dribble drives rather than wait for players to reach him, displaying the type of assertion most bigs cannot.
And, again, he only just finished up his rookie season.
Just imagine what he'll do in 2015-16, when he has, you know, actual NBA experience under his belt.
It Gets Scarier Still
One thing you'll notice about these studs is not one of them has hit their prime. Leonard is the old head in terms of NBA miles, having played through four regular seasons.
Translation: Not one of these five is going anywhere. Not now, not anytime soon. And on top of that, there are still a few cranky veterans to consider.
Dwight Howard ranked as a top-15 rim protector among qualified players during the regular season despite battling various injuries. He could reenter the fold if he stays healthy.
We know what happens when LeBron decides do something: He does it. If he defends at a high level for an entire season, he could creep right back into the picture.
Tim Duncan is still one for shaming time. So long as he's in the league, he'll be a dark-horse candidate, the kind who will snag votes for his ageless stinginess.
This list goes on and on. Marc Gasol and Joakim Noah are still around. DeAndre Jordan might become better friends with advanced analytics yet. Andrew Wiggins may soon enter the conversation once the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves get their act together.
But look to Leonard, Green, Davis, Gobert and Noel to set the future bar—a forthcoming standard so unbelievably high, it'll be worthy of a field that's already unbelievably deep and only getting deeper.
*Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com unless otherwise cited.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @danfavale.
