Draymond Green questions Victor Wembanyama's DPOY chances owing to one factor
Victor Wembanyama finds himself in a unique position heading into the later stretch of the season. The young star is the firm favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award based on the betting odds seen on major sportsbooks like DraftKings. At the same time, his stats put him in a position to potentially contend for the Defensive Player of the Year award as well.
He currently leads the league with the most 2+ block and 2+ steal games this season, and has 265 "stocks" (steals + blocks) compared to Rudy Gobert's 163. Despite that, it's Gobert who sits as the betting favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award on major sportsbooks.
On FanDuel, Rudy Gobert is at -900 odds win the DPOY award, while Wembanyama sits at +1100. While many believe that the stats favor Wembanyama, others believe that it's Gobert who deserves it because of his team's success.
On The Draymond Green Show, the four-time NBA champion explained why he doesn't think Victor Wembanyama should win the DPOY award:
"He'll have the opportunity to win Defensive Player of the Year (in the future). I personally don't think that is this year. Even if Rudy Gobert wasn't having the season that he's having and their team having the season that they're having, I still don't think you can give that award to somebody who's on 24th best defense in the league."
Looking at the head-to-head stats between Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert for the DPOY award
Draymond Green doesn't believe that the Defensive Player of the Year award should go to a player on a team that isn't thriving defensively. Looking at the current defensive efficiency rating stats, the San Antonio Spurs rank 22nd.
At the same time, the Minnesota Timberwolves rank first, furthering the case for Rudy Gobert.
With that in mind, however, let's take a look at the head-to-head stats for Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert.
This season, Rudy Gobert is averaging 33.8 minutes per game, and has played in 60 of a possible 62 games for the Timberwolves. During that time, he has averaged 2.1 blocks per game, a noticeable improvement from the 1.4 bpg he averaged last season.
With Gobert's block-per-game average on par with his career average of 2.1, the biggest difference between him and Victor Wembanyama is in the steals-per-game stat. Gobert averages .6 steals per game, while Wembanyama averages 1.3 spg.
In addition, the rookie notably averages 3.4 bpg, leading the league by a considerable amount. From the sounds of things, however, the Defensive Player of the Year award needs team success to warrant a win.