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With Victor Wembanyama out, Jaren Jackson Jr. becomes new favorite for NBA Defensive Player of the Year

jack baer
Staff writer
·3-min read

Victor Wembanyama's season-ending condition will have many ripple effects, most of them unpleasant for the San Antonio Spurs and NBA fans in general. It also means the NBA Defensive Player of the Year race is a competition again.

Entering the All-Star break, the Spurs phenom was a -2500 favorite to win his first career DPOY award at BetMGM, and it wasn't hard to see why. He led the NBA in blocks with 3.8 steals per game, along with 1.1 steals, 9.2 defensive rebounds and 3.4 deflections per game. The latter two marks ranked in the league's top 10.

As long as Wembanyama stayed healthy, the award was his. Unfortunately, his season is now over due to a blood clot in his shoulder, and it's unclear if the issue will affect him beyond this season.

With Wembanyama out, the NBA has a new leaderboard for the DPOY race at BetMGM. Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. is the odds-on favorite, followed by another agile big man then a trio of guards.

  1. Jaren Jackson Jr., -130

  2. Evan Mobley, -110

  3. Dyson Daniels, +1100

  4. Lu Dort, +1400

  5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, +2000

  6. Jalen Williams, +2000

  7. Amen Thompson, +3500

  8. Rudy Gobert, +5000

  9. Bam Adebayo, +5000

  10. Giannis Antetokounmpo, +10000

DALLAS, TEXAS - DECEMBER 01: Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies blocks the shot of Josh Green #8 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half at American Airlines Center on December 01, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)
Jaren Jackson Jr. is favored to win his second NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

Jackson won the award in the 2022-23 season, though that was mostly thanks to blocks numbers that are noticeably down from that year. Mobley is built in a similar mold as Jackson, and is a major reason why the offensive powerhouse Cleveland Cavaliers also have a top 10 defense by defensive ratings.

Behind them is Daniels, who is having one of the better defensive seasons the NBA has ever seen from a guard. Acquired by the Atlanta Hawks last offseason in the Dejounte Murray deal, Daniels leads the NBA in steals per game by a chasmic margin at 3.0. The next closest is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 1.9.

Daniels also leads the NBA in deflections per game by a similar margin at 6.1, a full two ahead of the second-place Kelly Oubre Jr. It's hard for a guard to win DPOY, but Daniels' numbers are even better than what Marcus Smart did when he won it in the 2021-22 seasons.

And then there are three straight members of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are easily the best team in the NBA by defensive rating and could be even more stifling with Chet Holmgren back in the lineup. It might be hard for any of Dort, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams to stand out.

As for the rest of the awards, Gilgeous-Alexander is a -500 favorite to win MVP, Stephon Castle is -165 to win Rookie of the Year, Cade Cunningham is -125 to win Most Improved Player and Payton Pritchard is -160 to win Sixth Man of the Year.