Tony Allen was one of the greatest defenders in NBA history and he placed great emphasis on the DPOTY race.
For the entire NBA offseason and most of the regular season, Victor Wenbagnama was at the forefront of getting a defensive player of the year. The only thing that hinders him was the 65-game threshold, and suddenly the race opened again when a blood clot in his shoulder closed his season during an All-Star break.
Jaren Jackson Jr., Evan Mobley and Dyson Daniels all quickly emerged as three favorites to win awards at Wembanyama, but Mobley (-115) was led by Draymond Green (-105), while Daniels leads the distant third (+1500) according to van der.
Green has locked the Golden State Warriors and top 10 defensive teams. Mobley is perhaps the second-best interior defender in the league behind Wenbanyama, with Daniels leading the league with 3.1 steel per game. In the context, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is second, with 1.8 steel per game.
Green has insisted on winning DPOTY himself, but one of the legendary defenders believes that security guards should get flowers.
Daniels is the best on-ball defender of the season and has posted the most steel per game since John Stockton in 1988-89. Meanwhile, Lu Dort is the best defender in the Oklahoma City Thunder and boasts a defensive rating of 107.1.
Having created six all-defensive teams in a row, Tony Allen supports both Dout and Daniels.
“Drey my boy, he does a lot in court… he’s everyone in the right place,” praised Fundael Allen. Please do so.
“I have him as my favourite, my favourite is the Atlanta guy, I’m Dyson, he likes to be all over the court, he’s passing lanes.
Of course, Green is his greatest advocate, and he calls himself to win his second DPOTY award.
“Draymond, he’s going to put his name in itself,” Allen said. “I like Dort too. He’s another guy I say.
“He definitely can hold a hat on that team’s defensive side, and he’s number one in the league, so he’s supposed to salute the winner.
Like Green, Dort has revealed that he considers himself the best defender in the league.
As a 6-4 guard, Allen used his high basketball IQ to destroy the ball handler. He never stole or blocked the league and had no particular impact on the offensive end, but he and Mark Gasol were the hearts and souls of the Grit Grizzlies on the defensive side of the Ball.
Allen, like Green and Dort, campaigned for himself to win DPOTY, but his best finish was fourth in 2011, losing to Dwight Howard.
Since 1983, five true security guards who have achieved a 26-year gap between Gary Payton and Marcus Smart have been awarded the defensive player of the year. Green is getting smaller in size, but he is still a forward and dominating position in the awards.
Allen certainly believes the guard is covered in the Player of the Year vote, and wants to see Daniels and Dort break the trend and bring back the hardware. Both have cases, but the success of Green Warrior and Mobley’s multi-faceted dominant teams will not be overlooked, and the race is expected to descend on the wire.
But after this year, it will once again become Wenbanyama’s award.