NBA Defensive Player of the Year Betting Odds 2025

A lot of critics of the NBA would proclaim that the league isn’t the same as it used to be, that defense is mostly optional across the league, that it’s a glorified three-point shooting contest each night, and the art of the lockdown defender is quickly fading away like the Warriors’ championship window.

However, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award makes sure to highlight the few NBA stars out there who still believe in the old adage that “defense wins championships.”

In recent history, Rudy Gobert has won this award in four of the last seven seasons.

However, there is some new blood in the NBA that offers unthinkable matchup nightmares and can completely change an offensive game plan on their own.

In this article, we will detail all you need to know about betting on who ultimately becomes the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and how you can celebrate every rebound, block, and steal along the way.

Note: Odds were correct at the time of writing.

How is the Winner Decided?

The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award is decided by a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters from the United States and Canada.

Each voter selects their top three choices for the award, ranking them in order from first to third.

First-place votes for the award are worth 5 points, while second-place votes are worth 3 points, and third-place votes are worth 1 point.

The player who accumulates the most total points from the 100 ballots wins the award, meaning that a player could, in theory, still win the award even if they do not have the most first-place votes.

Unlike other awards like the NBA MVP Award or the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, there is no real specific criteria for voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

However, voters typically consider factors like rebounding, rim protection, on-ball defense, and overall presence on the floor.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Betting Odds

In recent seasons, the race to become NBA Defensive Player of the Year has been much tighter than the one taking shape during the 2024-25 NBA season.

However, the award is typically one of the more popular futures bets that NBA bettors tend to make before the season begins.

Here’s a look at how the race to become NBA Defensive Player of the Year shakes out following the midseason All-Star break.

Victor Wembanyama (-2000) at DraftKings – The Favorite

If a report from Shams Charania dropped this week saying that Victor Wembanyama is actually half-alien and from another galaxy altogether, I’m not sure many basketball fans would be overly surprised.

The second-year talent out of France narrowly missed out on winning DPOTY in his rookie season, as fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert brought home his fourth DPOTY award last season.

However, barring a disaster, that won’t be the case this season, as Wemby is the overwhelming favorite to win the award and will probably do so in unanimous fashion.

Wemby is averaging 11 rebounds per game this season and an eye-popping four blocks per game. At the All-Star break, Wemby had 176 blocks on the season. The closest man to him, Jazz C Walker Kessler, has 102.

If there’s anything that can prevent Wemby from securing his first career NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, it would be him sliding under the 65-game requirement to win the award.

Wemby missed eight games before the All-Star break this season, meaning he can only miss 10 games the rest of the way in order to be eligible for the honors.

Outside of that, it’s going to take something drastic to make this race remotely interesting and not the foregone conclusion it appears to be.

The Longshots

If you did want to dabble on a bet that essentially banks on Wemby missing enough time to go under the 65-game requirement for the award, your best options would come from this group of four players, with Cavs’ Evan Mobley and Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson the best choices to step into the top spot should such a scenario play out.

The Thunder backcourt duo of Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been outstanding at locking down opposing backcourts.

However, you would have to figure the two players would cannibalize each other’s vote totals, realistically leaving Mobley and Jackson Jr. as the only other players with a chance to win this season.

Player	Team	Betting Odds
Evan Mobley	Cleveland Cavaliers	+3000
Jaren Jackson Jr.	Memphis Grizzlies	+3500
Luguentz Dort	Oklahoma City Thunder	+4000
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Oklahoma City Thunder	+10000

Recent NBA Defensive Player of the Year Winners

Year	Player	Team
2023-24	Rudy Gobert	Minnesota Timberwolves
2022-23	Jaren Jackson Jr.	Memphis Grizzlies
2021-22	Marcus Smart	Boston Celtics
2020-21	Rudy Gobert	Utah Jazz
2019-20	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks
2018-19	Rudy Gobert	Utah Jazz
2017-18	Rudy Gobert	Utah Jazz
2016-17	Draymond Green	Golden State Warriors
2015-16	Kawhi Leonard	San Antonio Spurs
2014-15	Kawhi Leonard	San Antonio Spurs

How To Bet on the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

To bet on who wins the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, follow this step-by-step:

1. Log into your account at the sportsbook of your choosing.

2. Select ‘NBA Odds’ from the menu of sports available.

3. Go to the ‘Player Futures’ submenu.

4. Click on ‘Defensive Player of the Year.’

5. Submit your bet in the bet-slip window.