Rudy Gobert has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believes he should capture the trophy again, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter links).
“I think he’s far and away the leader for Defensive Player of the Year,” Finch said.
The oddsmakers disagree. Victor Wembanyama is currently the heavy favorite to win the award, with Chet Holmgren second in the betting. Finch laid out his case for Gobert.
“His iso defense has been the top or near the top all year long,” Finch said. “He drives our defense. The on/off numbers for us speak volumes to his importance. … He takes our defense to a whole ‘nother level. There’s nothing he can’t do defensively.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Jazz wing Brice Sensabaugh knows his future is still up in the air, despite his recent performances. The 2023 first-round pick averaged 15.6 points per game last month and had a 17-point game against Milwaukee on Saturday. However, defense and turnovers have been issues for him. “I have to keep searching for those catch-and-shoot opportunities,” he told Kevin Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune. “I want to improve everything except my shooting, to be honest. But like I said, shooting has to be the driving force.” Sensabaugh has one more year on his contract at a $4.86MM salary before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency in 2027.
- Jared McCain admits he was blindsided by the trade that sent him from the Sixers to the Thunder. He thought he could be a long-term fit with Philadelphia, James Herbert of CBS Sports writes. “I definitely thought it could work,” McCain said. “Long-term, I definitely think it could work. I loved playing with them. It was really fun. And I’m going to miss it, too. So I think there was definitely potential there, but they made the best decision for what they thought it was and we’ve just gotta live with it and kind of move on.” McCain has thrived since the trade, averaging 11.7 points in 19.0 minutes per game through 13 appearances with Oklahoma City.
- Thunder guard Cason Wallace has made a strong case for being selected to the All-Defensive Team, according to Sports Illustrated’s Rylan Stiles, who uses advanced analytics to display Wallace’s prowess this season.
McCain is hitting his stride with OKC. That trade was dumb the minute it was announced and u moved him for a pick that most likely will come in in the mid 20’s. MOREY IS A JOKE. FIRE MOREY
McCain couldn’t crack the rotation and they got a 1st rd pick and 3 2nds. Great trade but Morey is still a joke.
Disagree. He was working his way back from a long term injury and got hurt again. He was rusty but fine. Now he is on a better team playing well and now the Sixers depth has Payne(who is trash) and was out of the league now having to play big minutes on a team trying to avoid the play in. Disagree completely with your post.
They ducked the tax. McCain was never going to do anything meaningful with Maxey on the Sixers. You can’t play them together and field a playoff team.
He is not going to be in OKC’s playoff rotation either. All he did was hold things down for Ajay Mitchell. He gives OKC some flexibility next season once they start shedding higher salaried players.
Big minutes?
Yes he will most likely find 20-25 mins a game with Maxey out. Maybe big was a bit of a overreaction but the Sixers already tried Grimes at PG(it was a mess) and yes VJ can play the point at times(but ball handling is more of a weakness)
Payne is starting tonight because we have no depth. 19mins in first half. 3-9FGS 1-63PT. As I said above that trade was dumb and took away from G depth.
Do you watch the sixers, McCain was buried.
Do u watch the sixers? He was coming back from injuries. His numbers with OKC are way better and he is averaging about the same number of mins. Depth is a part of basketball, look it up
He wasn’t going to get minutes in Philly Sorry his injuries had zero impact on this fact. You are just learning about the sport I get it.
Disagree they had a lot to do with it. Yes Maxey/VJ were the starters and getting a lot of minutes but depth is important in the nba and he was still getting close to 18mins a night
There was not spot for macain and he will get exposed in the playoffs. He is not big enough to play the 2 and not a PG. Okc is the best case for him because he can come of the bench and just score. They also a championship team. Philly is done. Until they break it all dow no point. Embiid is a negative at this point and so is PG. By the time they come off the books you will have to pay VJ and Maxey will get an extension. So not really sure trading him matters
Sixers got a good deal for McCain. You don’t need him. They need to fix Embiid and PG problems.
He certainly wasn’t going to be a starter in Philly, but he was still on his rookie contract and was capable of running the second unit. The trade was simply about Harris/Morey ducking the tax. If they internally thought they had a legit chance of making some noise in the playoffs, they would have kept him.
Not everyone is going to start. 95% of the nba is role players. McCain was a solid role player. U need role players. That trade was dumb from the beginning. Now they have to start Payne(who stinks) and can’t shoot. McCain could shoot, and showed early in his career he could be a solid role player. It’s whatever but Morey made another ill advise move on a young player who wasn’t making much money
The Jazz’s approach to Sensabaugh is bizarre. He’s a really good scorer and can put it up in big bunches, yet the Jazz will randomly cut his minutes in half even if he’s coming off a big game. He’s made strides defensively and as a ball-handler, but it’s hard to maintain consistency when you don’t know if you’re playing 30 minutes or 10 minutes.
He’s had stretches of 25+ points a game, then he’ll ride the pine for no apparent reason. This team is going nowhere – play those who have potential.
Great analysis. You are correct. However the reason is simple. To tank. I’ve said this many times it’s disgusting. I know 3 jazz player and they are not that happy about it either. Hopefully the NBA ends this. They are playing with fire instead of developing their players. You don’t develop but just playing un meaningful minutes. You develop in the offseason and during the regular season playing winning basketball.
I hope he sticks around because he will be a really good scorer. And they will need bench wing scoring.
KG/Collier
Ac/sensabaugh
Luri
Jackson
Walker.
They need to fill the rest out and don’t really have a spot for a 19 year old rookie. Unless the win the lottery and get boozer or Patterson. To me AC has better upside then AJ( don’t really see why he is Soo special reminds me of jabary Parker all-star but not superstar) hopefully they get it together and figure out a direction and the NBA stops the tanking
Chet is not 2nd for DPOY. Wemby should get it.
But there is no better two person defensive duo than McDaniels and Gobert.