We have reached the halfway mark of the 2022-23 NBA season, with voting pools for each of the end of season awards beginning to take shape such as Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2022, Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics became the first guard to win Defensive Player of the Year since Gary Payton in 1996 and the second Celtic to win it after Kevin Garnett.
Traditionally, the award has belonged to the big men of the league with the likes of Rudy Gobert, Giannis Antetkounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green taking home the honour in recent years.
There is only one guard inside the current top ten candidates according to NBA betting site BetOnline with an odds-on favorite leading the way at the halfway point.
Top 10 NBA Defensive Player Of The Year Candidates
10: Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) @ +4000 with BetOnline
Coming in at number 10, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is widely regarded as one of the NBA’s most versatile defenders and won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017.
Green has been named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team on four occasions (2015-17, 2021) and the All-Defensive Second Team three times (2018, 2019, 2022) as well as being the NBA steals leader in 2017.
Amongst qualifying players, the 32-year-old ranks as the third-best rim protector in the NBA.
9: Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) @ +2500 with BetOnline
As well as dominating the NBA on the offensive side of the floor with an average of 33.6 points per game this season, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid ranks 9th in Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
The 28-year-old averages 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game and has the lowest defensive rating in the league this season at 106.3 and the Sixers rank third in points allowed.
Philadelphia hold the fourth-best defensive rating (110.6) as a team in the NBA and are inside the top ten for opponent field goal percentage.
8: Jarrett Allen (Cleveland Cavaliers) @ +2200 with BetOnline
The Cleveland Cavaliers rank second in the NBA’s best defensive rating, in large part thanks to six-foot-nine big man Jarrett Allen protecting anything and everything at the rim.
The 24-year-old was a first-time All-Star in 2022 and averages 1.2 blocks a game, with a Defensive Player of the Year award certainly on the cards at some point during his career, if not this season.
Allen ranks fourth in the NBA in individual defensive rating and is currently…