Damn, this race is super close. Besides my sympathies (Team Amen), I don't think I'm capable of making a top3 here that wouldn't be purely arbitrary. Did I forget about someone? There are some players (McDaniels) that are All-NBA D Team candidates, but I don't think they're brought in discussions about DPOTY.
My takes:
- among players from DPOTY convos, Daniels and Dort are overrated (it doesn't mean that they're not great) - and Jalen Williams may be the most underrated defender,
- Zubac has probably the most consistent metrics among all players considering Clippers with him on a court are defensively similar to OKC with Dort - that's insane,
- it's easy to understand why Daniels doesn't look great in on/off metrics considering his awful DFG% splits - Hawks' overall defense may be at fault, but it doesn't change a fact he's the worst here in terms of both DRTG of his team and DFG%, that's disquailfying from DPOTY conversation IMHO,
- I guess Jackson doesn't look in impact metrics as great as his individual splits would suggest due to his poor rebounding,
- Amen is the only perimeter player checking in all the boxes to be a part of DPOTY convo IMHO,
- like him or not, you have to give credit to Draymond how all-round versatile he is as a defender 10 seasons after his first title.
