The Defensive Player of the Year award will be Victor Wembanyama's to lose every year that he's healthy.
The 7'4 alien has led the league in blocks per game in each of his first three seasons in the NBA - he's swatted more than three per game in every year. Not to mention his long arms getting in the way of passing lanes, forcing a steal per game.
Wembanyama would average even more blocks if he didn't deter so many offensive players from attempting a shot near the basket. His defensive deterrence can be compared to Steph Curry's "gravity" on the perimeter as his threat to shoot pulls defenders out of the paint.
The only thing stopping Wemby from receiving the Defensive Player of the Year award is the 65-game rule, a threshold that players have to meet to qualify for regular season awards.
The Frenchman missed out on all awards last season after he only played in 46 games, and he's right on the edge for qualifying for awards this year.
He was looking well on track to qualify, but an injury last night against the Philadelphia 76ers leaves that in doubt. Wemby made hard contact with Paul George in his chest area, resulting in bruised ribs and an early exit to the game before halftime.
So far, Wemby has played in 64 games - 63 "regular" games, and one NBA Cup Championship game. This means that he'll have to play 20+ minutes in one of the final three Spurs games to close the season.
There has yet to be an official update regarding Wembanyama's status, though head coach Mitchell Johnson said postgame, "I think it would be a positive that he felt he could play the last four-to-five minutes of the half...that's a positive from my perspective, but I have nothing (on his future status)," per USA Today.
Defensive Player of the Year Odds After Wemby's Injury
The odds for the DPOY race immediately shifted, as top competitor Chet Holmgren jumped from being priced in the thousands to +600, though Wemby remains a massive favorite. He's locked up the award if he can appear in another game this season.
Here's a look at the full list of the updated DPOY odds following Wemby's injury:
Victor Wembanyama | -1100 |
Chet Holmgren | +600 |
Rudy Gobert | +20000 |
Scottie Barnes | +20000 |
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Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
