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Big men are leading the 2022-2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award race. The Milwaukee Bucks are the best defensive team so far this season and have two players in contention for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Meanwhile, there’s one rather surprising candidate for DPOTY this season as well.
On that note, lets take a look at this month’s edition of the Defensive Player of the Year Power Rankings by Sportskeeda.
No. 5: Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers
Previous month’s Defensive Player of the Year Power Ranking: (N/A)
Games played: 14 Games won: 10 Games lost: 4
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star center Jarrett Allen has been the most impactful defensive player on the team. The Cavs have a defensive rating of 108.2. They improve to 104.5 when Allen is on the court and falls to 110.4 when he is on the bench.
Allen is also holding opposing players to just 41.9% shooting overall (-5.6%) and 54.7% shooting from less than six feet from the rim (-9.2%).
As for traditional defensive stats, Allen is averaging 1.4 blocks per game (16th in the league) and 11.1 rebounds per game (sixth in the league).
No. 4: Ivica Zubac, LA Clippers
Previous month’s Defensive Player of the Year Power Ranking: (N/A)
Games played: 17 Games won: 10 Games lost: 7
LA Clippers big man Ivica Zubac has been a surprisingly elite rim protector this season. As the only big man in the rotation, Zubac ranks third in the league for blocks per game at 1.9. He also ranks seventh in rebounding at 11.1 rebounds per game.
Zubac is also holding opponents to just 42.7% shooting overall (-7.1%) and just 43.3% shooting from less than six feet (-20.9%). With his on-court defensive rating of 105.4, Zubac has been a huge factor in the Clippers’ second-rated team defensive rating of 106.4.
Considering two-way superstar Kawhi Leonard has only played four games, Zubac has been solid on defense this season.
No. 3: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Previous month’s Defensive Player of the Year Power Ranking: (N/A)
Games played: 12 Games won: 6 Games lost: 6
Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid has been carrying the Sixers' defense this season. Philly has the fourth-best team defensive rating in the league at 108.7. That number improves to 102.8 with Embiid on the court and drops to a team-worst 113.4 with him on the bench.
Embiid may not be offering the same level of elite rim protection as the two players above him. However, he’s still holding opponents to just 46.7% shooting this season (-1.2%). He’s also defending well on the perimeter, holding opponents to just 31.3% from deep (-5.4%).
In terms of traditional defensive stats, Embiid is also eighth in blocks at 1.8 blocks per game and 12th in rebounds at 10.1 rebounds per game.
No. 2: Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks
Previous month’s Defensive Player of the Year Power Ranking: (N/A)
Games played: 15 Games won: 11 Games lost: 4
The first of two Bucks players on this list is the league’s leading shot-blocker Brook Lopez, who is averaging a whopping 2.6 blocks per game. The Bucks have the best team defensive rating of 105.1. That number improves to 100.2 with Lopez on the court and falls to 108.6 when he is on the bench.
Lopez is also holding opponents to just 43.4% shooting overall (-5.3%) and just 50.0% shooting from less than six feet (-11.8%). He may not be a big rebounder, but Lopez’s resurgence as a defensive anchor has been instrumental for the Bucks this season.
No. 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Previous month’s Defensive Player of the Year Power Ranking: (N/A)
Games played: 12 Games won: 9 Games lost: 3
Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the best defensive player on the best defensive team this season. As previously mentioned, the Bucks have a league-best defensive rating of 105.1. This improves to 101.4 with Antetokounmpo on the court and falls to 105.9 with him on the bench.
Antetokounmpo is also holding opposing players to just 38.8% shooting overall (-9.4%) and 44.2% from within six feet (-21.7%). He is also averaging 12.0 rebounds (second in NBA), 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocks per game.
So all things considered, Antetokounmpo leads this month’s Defensive Player of the Year rankings.
Also read this: NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) race featuring Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and more: November 18, 2022 | Latest Power Rankings by Sportskeeda
