Can Wemby Potentially Win Defensive Player of the Year As a Rookie?
All-Star Weekend has come and gone, and players can now return from their annual Cabo trip. With just around 30 games remaining in the NBA season, the race for major awards is heating up. MVP is still entirely up for grabs now that Sixers center Joel Embiid is out at least six weeks, with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the pack. The Defensive Player of the Year Award looks to be all but wrapped up for Rudy Gobert to win his record-tying fourth award, with his current gambling odds set at -700.
Should it be over though? Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama is doing things on the defensive end that we have never seen before, and he is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can eventually become. Wembanyama leads the league in blocks with 3.2 per game, with the next highest being Walker Kessler at 2.8. He was able to record his first triple-double with blocks and will almost certainly be the next player to record a quadruple-double in the near future. Wemby is also chipping in a steal per game and is first in total stocks (steals + blocks) by a wide margin with 212.
While statistics don’t display the full impact that a player can have, especially on the defensive end, Victor Wembanyama already has the tape and stand-out highlights to back it up. Opposing players are terrified to shoot when he is roaming around, and Wemby is consistently sending shots back with force into the stands. Turn on a Spurs game for three minutes, and you will encounter multiple instances of Victor directly altering a shot or intimidating an opponent to not take a shot. Unfortunately for Victor is the fact that the Spurs rank 24th in total defense, while Gobert’s Timberwolves are first in the league and also possess the top record in the Western Conference. It’ll be an uphill battle for Wembanyama to really garner some buzz to win the award but watch out for a massive last stretch by the French phenom to make a push to win his first of many Defensive Player of the Year Awards.
