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Perimeter players are the lifeblood of basketball teams. The best teams in the league today are invariably the ones that have the best swingmen. This has been true ever since the 1980's following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's retirement and the rise of the phenomenon that was Michael Jordan.
The most elite swingmen today handle a wide variety of tasks on both ends of the floor as the NBA continues its move towards a future of positionless basketball. Death Lineups are the order of the day, and teams like the Houston Rockets, the Warriors, the Cavaliers and the Celtics are able to field lineups with 3-4 wing players without losing a beat on the offensive end, or defensively.
The following ranking will focus on the players' ability to guard star offensive players, switch on to the toughest assignment on the night and make a difference. Bonus points are handed out to players with the ability to guard multiple positions.
Note: Players who have played 20 games or less this season, or are averaging less than 15 minutes per game are ineligible.
Without further ado, here goes our list
#10 Terry Rozier III - Boston Celtics
It is not 'this play' that we're swooning to as we put Rozier at no. 10 on our list of best wing defenders. It is not even the fact that Rozier ranks 7th among all qualified perimeter players and 3rd among point guards in defensive rating this season. It is based on the fact that Rozier's energetic play passes the eye-test that his mightily impressive defensive stat line indicates.
It is because of the fact that these stat lines have a solid basis in ground reality. Whenever Rozier gets on the floor (he's averaging a career-high 24.1 minutes per game, a commendable number considering his competition), opposition point guards have to be wary of his 6'8" wingspan, lateral quickness and basketball IQ, which enables him to average an excellent 1.5 steals per 36 minutes. In addition to this, he is a solid rebounder for the point guard position, nabbing 4.5 per game.
Rozier has improved his game by leaps and bounds so far, and there is no reason to think that his graph will slow down considering that he's still only 23 years old and has a vast room for improvement on the offensive end. But if he improves even further on the defensive end, I suspect that All-Defensive teams are not out of reach for him at some point in his career.
#9 Andre Iguodala - Golden State Warriors
Ever since being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, Iguodala has had a reputation as a lockdown defender capable of also taking on assignments who were mismatches for him in terms of size and speed. This was because of the raw athleticism which he still possesses to a fair degree.
He meshed into their lineup instantly and succeeded in cobbling a 14-year (and ongoing) career off the strength of his defensive contributions - even as he improved by leaps and bounds on his offensive end.
By the time he was crowned as the Golden State Warriors' Finals MVP in 2015, Iggy's career had come full circle as he put up a stat line of 16.3/5/8/4.0 while coming off the bench and holding LeBron James to a sub-40 field goal percentage for his first Finals series since 2007.
Iguodala has a defensive rating of 101.4 this season.
#8 Robert Covington - Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers' regular season campaign has encountered Himalayan peaks and valleys this season. Their Eastern Conference standing has swung from as high as 5th to as low as 12th. What has stayed at constantly the same level, however, is the defensive play of one of the NBA's most underrated wings in Robert Covington.
It is no coincidence that Covington finished fourth in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award standings last year. Hustle is the name of the game in defense, and Covington happens to possess bagfuls of it.
His work rate on both ends of the floor is second to none, but it is on defense that Covington shows off why he's such a valued asset. At 6'9" with a 7'2" wingspan, he has insane physical tools along with the lateral quickness, basketball IQ and discipline to be one of the very best stoppers in the business.
Covington has a defensive rating of 101.1, which is the best on the Philadelphia roster for perimeter players.
#7 Jayson Tatum - Boston Celtics
It was a close call between the Celtics duo of two-way studs (Tatum and Jaylen Brown), but we go with the rookie for the simple reason that a player only 60 games into his NBA career should not be this good on the defensive end of the floor. At the same point last season, Jaylen was nowhere in the conversation of the NBA's best perimeter defenders.
Jayson Tatum's offensive stats may have hit a rookie wall and hit the ground after a spell of over 2 months when he led the league in 3-point percentage, but he remains one of their most valuable defenders.
He has the lateral quickness to cover point guards on switches, while he also has the basketball IQ to cover opposition power forwards for long periods of the game. When the Celtics switch to their Death lineup of Irving, Rozier, Brown, Tatum, and Horford in 4th quarters, it is generally the rookie who picks up the tougher assignment on the night.
His defensive rating of 100.2 ranks 10th among all perimeter players and 2nd among small forwards.
#6 Marcus Smart - Boston Celtics
How many players at or under 6'4" can legitimately claim to be able to guard 3 positions on the floor during clutch? Not many. Perhaps Marcus Smart is the only one who really does the job on such a regular basis.
'Cobra' displays the kind of hustle, determination and defensive focus that reminds old-timers of a certain Dennis Rodman. With his athleticism, ability to read plays and deflect passes and block passing lanes, as well as his sturdy 102 kg frame, Smart regularly takes up the small forward assignment when Brad Stevens puts him on the floor alongside Kyrie Irving and Rozier in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
Smart owns a defensive rating of 99.1 on 29.8 minutes played every night, which is the best for any point guard playing over 20 minutes a game.
#5 Danny Green - San Antonio Spurs
If you had to write a textbook on how to be a successful 3-and-D player in the NBA, the very first case you would pick to examine in depth has to be the indomitable Danny Green. Green is the very personification of a role player who executes his job to the T and does the dirty work in order to keep the team humming along.
Along with a sturdy 6'6", 215-pound frame, Green has a sizeable 6'10" wingspan which he uses to great effect on the defensive end. His physical tools enable him to guard up to 4 positions for various stretches of games.
The Green-Kawhi Leonard duo on defense is probably the single most productive swingman duo in the NBA defensively - both players are notorious lockdown defenders who can change the momentum of any game with a strong defensive play. It is no coincidence that the San Antonio Spurs have been a top-five defense every season since Green and Leonard have played together.
#4 Luc M'bah a Moute - Houston Rockets
Ever since getting drafted with the 37th pick in the 2008 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, M'bah a Moute has flashed enormous potential as a lockdown defender. As his playing time and exposure to NBA basketball increased, M'bah a Moute has emerged as one of the most versatile lockdown defenders in the league.
M'bah a Moute has a defensive rating of 98.5 points allowed per 100 possessions, which leads the Houston Rockets franchise by a mammoth margin of 4.5 points for his nearest competition (Chris Paul).
With a wingspan of 7'2" and a sizeable weight of 230 pounds to go with his 6'8" frame, M'bah a Moute is one of very few players in the league who can legitimately guard all 5 positions for extended stretches. And he does that at a super-elite level for a Rockets franchise which is an offensive juggernaut, but would not have the best record in the NBA but for versatile defenders like him and PJ Tucker.
#3 Jimmy Butler - Minnesota Timberwolves
Unlike most other players on this list, Jimmy Butler does not have advanced stats backing up his case here. Until he went down with a torn meniscus in a close game against Houston this week, Butler was ranked 125th among qualified players in defensive rating at a league-average 105.3 points allowed per game.
That is until you realize that Butler put up this rating despite guarding the opponent's best player whenever he's on the floor for a Timberwolves team that is flat-out bad defensively, despite Tom Thibodeau's best efforts.
Butler has been a great defensive stopper right since he came into the league, but over the past 5 seasons, he has been elite. This is borne out by his record of 3 All-Defensive team selections during the relevant period.
Ask any GM in the league on who you would want guarding the opponent's best player, and most wouldn't think twice before saying Jimmy G Buckets. Players who can reduce LeBron James' efficiency don't come along every day.
#2 Paul George - Oklahoma City Thunder
Despite averaging 2.1 steals per game for Oklahoma City this season, Paul George has not received much fanfare in the Defensive Player of the Year sweepstakes. Perhaps he is not the best in the league right now, but he should certainly be in the conversation.
The advanced stats do not bear out the impact Paul George has on the Thunder's defense. While compensating for Westbrook's and Anthony's below-par defensive energy, George exerts great effort on close-outs, contests every shot and rarely gets shown up on isolation plays.
His 6'9", 100 kg frame combined with an incredible vertical leap of 39 inches and a 7' wingspan gives him the ability to guard 4 positions for extended periods of the game, and even switch on to centers without trouble on pick-and-roll defense.
His 3 All-Defensive team selections further prove his credentials as an elite wing defender.
#1 Andre Roberson - Oklahoma City Thunder
Before going down with a season-ending rupture on his left patellar tendon, Roberson was having the best defensive season of his career with a league-leading defensive rating of 96.4 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Roberson is one of those glue guys every team would love to have on their roster. Despite being a putrid offensive player, Roberson gives it his all on the less glamorous end of the floor. Even with Paul George and Russell Westbrook, who are elite defensive players on their night, Head Coach Billy Donovan chose to give Roberson the toughest defensive assignment every game.
Roberson's wingspan of 211 cm and his lateral quickness despite a height of 6'7" allows him to guard 4 positions on the floor effectively.
The impact of Roberson's defense becomes more apparent when we note the Thunder's defensive rating plummet from 102.4 per 100 possessions to 104.3. Despite their best efforts to plug the leaks, the Thunder have dropped from 3rd to 7th in the league in defensive rating.
