We continue reviewing the main candidates for the individual awards of the season, this time taking a look at the candidates for Best NBA Defender of the Year 2023-24. This award has had four different winners in the last four years and only Rudy Gobert has managed to sneak onto the podium on more than one occasion in this period, which tells us about the large number of candidates that exist and how there does not seem to be a single criterion to follow, which can make it quite unpredictable. But, taking into account that in this award collective performance tends to weigh a lot, which leaves out specialists who, due to context, are unlikely to turn their teams into one of the 5 best defenses in the league, the favorites would be the following.
Jaren Jackson Jr.
It is inevitable to start the list with the current winner, although curiously it has been somewhat questioned after this occurred. With his 3 blocks per game and his incredible intimidation data, he ended up beating Brook Lopez in the final vote, but it seems that since then many fans have become more critical of his usual foul problems, which have prevented him from averaging 30 minutes per game in all his seasons, or from his lesser contribution in defensive rebounding, which sometimes results in second-chance points. This, however, does not seem enough to stop considering him one of the great candidates, because if he keeps the Grizzlies defense among the best it will be inevitable to take him into account.
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Brook Lopez
Second last year, the center managed to change the usual narrative and be recognized as the Bucks’ most important defender above Giannis. Budenholzer opted for a defense not so focused on closing in on the paint, which placed more weight on his and the team’s intimidation efforts. center He responded perfectly, being valued more than notably in the votes after adding 2.5 blocks per game, his personal record. With the change of coach and the departure of Jrue Holiday, things will surely be different in Milwaukee this year, but his weight in this matter will hardly be reduced.
Evan Mobley
Last year’s vote was so clearly a two-way race that it’s hard to remember that Evan Mobley ended up being voted the year’s third-best defender. In fact, the Cavaliers’ entire season went somewhat unnoticed, as he was coming off a year of rookie so complete and in which he had shown such maturity of the game that many expected a kind of leap to stardom, but the truth is that he was a fundamental piece in Cleveland’s success in the regular season. Those from Ohio finished the league with the best rating defensively, and although the presence of men like Jarrett Allen was also important, the power forward seems already established as one of the best defenders in the competition and ready to fight for the award.
Anthony Davis
With Davis the doubt is the same as always. Will he reach the 65 games required to qualify for this award? Because with respect to its impact it is impossible to have any type of qualms. In the last playoffs, La Ceja showed that 100% there seems to be no one who can challenge him in this matter right now, offering an absolute recital of rim protection, assist defense and rebound security precisely against the man who had just been named best defender of the year. And now that the Lakers seem ready to compete from the beginning with a system of which he will be the centerpiece, perhaps the time has finally come for him to go for an award that, due to his abilities, he deserves.
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Bam Adebayo
The Heat player has been repeating for years that he would like to fight for this award, and it is certainly difficult to doubt that he is on the list of the best defenders in the league, but he never seems to be able to really reach first place. His athletic ability makes him a very versatile and very productive player both when defending the rim and when he has to move away from it, but in a prize in which collective performance weighs so much, perhaps he has lacked Miami to emerge on some occasions as, at At least, one of the three best defenses of the year to be taken into account. For now he has not even managed to sneak into a better defensive quintet, which perhaps should be his first objective before wanting to crown himself as the best in this facet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Although Brook comes from receiving more recognition, it would be absurd to deny Giannis’ options to go for an award that he already won in 2020. That said, it is more than likely that we will see significant changes in the Bucks’ defensive approach, and In fact, some rumors suggest that the power forward wants to be in charge at least occasionally of defending rival stars, a role that has rarely corresponded to him until now. Furthermore, with the absence of Holiday, it is possible that the defenses in aid of the interiors will gain more weight, something in which, due to his athletic condition, he is a specialist, and these factors may make him once again stand out as the most important man of the team in the back half of the court.
Rudy Gobert
It’s funny how bad the move to Minnesota has been for his reputation, even in this matter. Although the Timberwolves slipped into the top 10 defenses of the regular season last year, the jump compared to the previous year was not as devastating as many expected (they came from being 13th), and despite their fit They have much more to do with offensive tasks; they do not seem to have reached an ecosystem that enhances their virtues. After being one of the great dominators of this award (he is one of the four men who has won it three times in history) he was left without receiving a single vote after the 22-23 season, but this does not seem enough to rule out beforehand to what is possibly the best interior defender of the last decade.
Marcus Smart
We jump for a moment to backcourt. Arriving on the team of the current award winner does not create the best scenario for him, but it does not seem like a sufficient reason to not even include the Best Defender of the 21-22 season, a man characterized since his arrival in the league by his combative spirit, his aggressiveness and his claw in perimeter defense. It will be interesting to see how he feels about the change of scenery, and the truth is that, even if he does not manage to sneak into the fight for this award, seeing him team up with Jaren Jackson Jr. can be truly terrifying for anyone who wants to score a basket against these Grizzlies.
Jrue Holiday
Holiday will have the responsibility of filling the void that Smart leaves in Boston, a void that few men seem more qualified to inherit. Chosen in the best defensive quintet in two of the last three seasons, Jrue has not only excellent defensive virtues, but also a sense of clutch in this type of plays that makes him stand out above other competitors. The point guard has a series of winning defensive actions in important games that would be the envy of many, and that can weigh on the minds of voters when choosing one side or the other.
Draymond Green
Starting the season injured, it is possible that he will not even be able to compete for the award. But if he does it, it will be impossible not to take it into account. His positional intelligence, versatility and defensive leadership have been fundamental pillars of the Warriors’ success since the beginning of the dynasty, and his impact has led him to appear in the best defensive quintets on eight of the last nine occasions. The only exception was 2020, a year in which he missed half the season. Will it happen again this time or can he once again be among the best?
(Cover photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images)
2023-10-15 11:08:56
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