Chet Holmgren is the Defensive Participant of the 12 months frontrunner on the halfway level of the NBA season, forward of four-time winner Rudy Gobert and Spurs famous person Victor Wembanyama.
Is the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder heart poised to win the award for the primary time or will another person steal it away? Let’s take a look at the newest NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months futures. Odds are topic to alter.
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Why not Wemby?
Victor Wembanyama (+550) is clearly the league’s greatest defensive participant. Opponents merely don’t have any reply for the 7-foot-5 specimen, taking pictures practically 10% worse this season when he’s close to them. Nevertheless, earlier than you go working to put a wager, do not forget that the NBA requires gamers to swimsuit up in 65 video games to be awards eligible.
Having already missed 14 of the Spurs first 44 contests on account of each a left calf pressure and a left knee hyperextension, it is extremely unlikely that Wemby meets the video games performed standards.
Chet Holmgren is the ceiling raiser for the NBA’s greatest group. He’s on the heart of its latest rivalry. And he’s most likely trolling you on-line.
Holmgren is the good unknown of the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder—and he’s simply scratching the floor. @loganmmurdock:…
— The Ringer (@ringer) January 13, 2026
Holmgren favored
Chet Holmgren (-125) is within the driver seat for the DPOY with Wembanyama just some video games missed away from being ineligible for the award. Just lately known as the “primary rim protector within the league” by Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, the 7-footer anchors Oklahoma Metropolis’s league-best protection.
Whereas Holmgren’s candidacy is buoyed by his group’s dominance, the Thunder are nonetheless a top-three protection within the NBA when he is not on the court docket. In distinction, the Timberwolves have a bottom-three protection when Rudy Gobert is off the court docket and a top-ten protection when he is on it.
Can Gobert win a fifth DPOY?
Rudy Gobert (+280) already has 4 Defensive Participant of the 12 months awards, tying him with Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for essentially the most in NBA historical past. Whereas 15 of the previous 16 DPOY winners have been of their 20s, the 33-year-old Frenchman is having a classic season in Minnesota.
Because of Gobert’s elite rim safety, the T-Wolves have a 108.2 defensive score when Gobert is on the ground, in comparison with a 123.9 defensive score when he sits.
Rudy Gobert Peaking offensively whereas getting his fifth DPOY in 12 months 13 is unimaginable pic.twitter.com/g8Pw3wIyH1
— MNMuse (@_MNMuse) January 21, 2026
The place’s Evan Mobley?
Evan Mobley (+5000) is not even within the dialog this season after hoisting the award in 2025. That bucks a development that is seen the earlier 12 months’s DPOY winner seize the distinction once more the next marketing campaign. Why? Properly, Cleveland is seventh within the East this season after profitable the convention final 12 months. The Cavs are additionally 14th in defensive effectivity, down from eighth in 2024-25.
2026 NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months Award Picks
Wembanyama is a horrendous wager at +550 contemplating he solely has to overlook 3 extra video games to be ineligible for the award. Holmgren can be a scary wager at -125 contemplating his personal harm historical past and metrics that present OKC is simply nice defensively with him off the court docket.
Due to this fact, we’ll take Gobert (+280) to win his file fifth Defensive Participant of the 12 months award.
