It’s been nearly a week since the San Antonio Spurs announced that Victor Wembanyama was out for the year due to a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis caused by a blood clot.
While Wembanyama’s health is of the utmost importance, the shocking news did turn the Defensive Player of the Year race on its head. Wemby was a -2500 favorite entering the All-Star break, which gave him an implied probability of 96.15% to win his first DPOY trophy.
Now that Wembanyama is ineligible for the award, the DPOY race figures to be the most competitive awards market down the stretch.
Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers are the betting favorites in the latest odds at the BetMGM online sportsbook.
BetMGM’s Defensive Player of the Year odds
- Jaren Jackson Jr. +120
- Evan Mobley +130
- Dyson Daniels +700
- Luguentz Dort +1200
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +3500
- Amen Thompson +5000
- Jalen Williams +5000
Jackson and Mobley are deserving favorites, considering this award typically goes to a big man. Jackson won DPOY in 2023, and he’s looking to become the 11th player to win this award multiple times.
However, neither player is on an elite defensive team. The Cavs rank seventh in defensive rating, while the Grizzlies are ninth.
That’s important because 11 of the last 12 DPOY winners have been on teams that ranked first or second in defense rating. The lone exception was when Rudy Gobert anchored the fourth-best defense as a member of the Utah Jazz in 2021.
So far this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the best defensive team by a comfortable margin. Their defensive rating of 105 is 3.7 points better than the Orlando Magic.
Oklahoma City has multiple defensive players worthy of recognition, which is why Luguentz Dort (+1200), Shai Gilgeous Alexander (+3500), and Jalen Williams (+5000) are all listed in this updated market.
Gilgeous Alexander was the only Thunder player to receive votes for Defensive Player of the Year last season, finishing seventh in the race. He’s second in the league in steals per game (1.9), trailing Atlanta Hawks forward Dyson Daniels’ clip of 3.1.
Voters could go in various directions with this year’s DPOY award, making it one of the most intriguing storylines during the regular season’s final weeks.
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