John McCoy/Icon Sportswire
Author: Anthony Vlahovic
Last Updated: 16 May, 2025
2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award always seems to provoke intense debate among fans. Over the past few seasons, Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert has won the award multiple times, with the 2023-24 season marking his fourth win in seven years. Victor Wembanyama looked more than ready to claim the DPOY throne from Gobert, but due to a blood clot, he missed the entire second half of the season, which allowed Evan Mobley to swoop in and secure the award for the first time in his career.
2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year - Best Odds
*Evan Mobley has won the 2024-25 NBA DPOY award. Once the 2025-26 DPOY odds are released, we will update the odds tables.
2024-25 NBA DPOY Odds Comparison - Top 5 Contenders
Player | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Evan Mobley | |||
Draymond Green | |||
Lu Dort | |||
Dyson Daniels | |||
Jaren Jackson Jr. |
*Odds as of April 25, 2025
2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winner
Evan Mobley (CLE Cavaliers): In 71 regular-season games, Mobley tied his career high in steals per game with an average of .9, while also finishing with 1.6 blocks per game, which is the second-best season-long average of his career. Mobley had somewhat of a down year last season on the defensive end, but he returned to his 2022-23 form when he finished third in DPOY voting. By staying healthy and consistent, Mobley remained near the top of the odds board all season, and his 3.8 defensive win shares ended up being enough to land him the trophy over the likes of Draymond Green and Dyson Daniels.
Past Defensive POY Winners
Season | Player | Team | Opening odds |
|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 | Evan Mobley | Cleveland Cavaliers | +2000 |
2023-24 | Rudy Gobert | Minnesota Timberwolves | +2000 |
2022-23 | Jaren Jackson Jr. | Memphis Grizzlies | +2000 |
2021-22 | Marcus Smart | Boston Celtics | +4000 |
2020-21 | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz | +300 |
2019-20 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks | +400 |
2018-19 | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz | +163 |
2017-18 | Rudy Gobert | Utah Jazz | +325 |
2016-17 | Draymond Green | Golden State Warriors | +550 |
2015-16 | Kawhi Leonard | San Antonio Spurs | +550 |
2014-15 | Kawhi Leonard | San Antonio Spurs | N/A |
Position Bias in the Paint: Why Bigs Dominate DPOY — and Who Could Break the Mold
There are plenty of guards and wings in the NBA that have elite defensive abilities, but most of them will never win Defensive Player of the Year due to the center position's dominance of the award. Since 2000, over 75% of DPOY winners have been big men, and as long as Victor Wembanyama can recover from his blood clots, that percentage will likely keep increasing.
Between blocks, rebounds, rim deterrence, and advanced metrics like defensive win shares, centers just have an advantage when it comes to this award. These multitudes of metrics have tended to stand out more in the eyes of voters than the numbers that guards and wings can provide.
For the foreseeable future, centers will open as the favorite for this award. While that may be the case, bettors may still be able to find some long shots at the guard and wing positions that have value. When looking for these longer shots, bettors should be looking for players that can guard multiple positions, have strong on/off defensive metrics, and ones who can rack up steals at a high clip, like a Dyson Daniels or Lu Dort.
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