The NBA was set to announce this season's defensive player of the year on Thursday night, with Atlanta's Dyson Daniels, Golden State's Draymond Green and Cleveland's Evan Mobley the three finalists.
Green won the award in 2017 and is bidding to become the 11th player in NBA history to win it at least twice. Daniels and Mobley have not previously won the award; Mobley finished third in the voting in 2023.
Green is assured of a fifth top-three finish in the voting.
Based on Daniels, Green and Mobley all being finalists, it's reasonable to think that they will be on the All-Defensive team when it is released by the NBA later this spring. It would be the ninth All-Defensive selection for Green, the second for Mobley and the first for Daniels.
Minnesota's Rudy Gobert won the award last season, his record-tying fourth DPOY trophy.
The award was voted on earlier this month by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league. The NBA releases a list of three finalists for its seven major individual awards — MVP, most improved player, coach of the year, clutch player of the year, rookie of the year, sixth man of the year and defensive player of the year — after the votes are counted but keeps the order of finish a secret until the results are broadcast.
Earlier this week, Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year and New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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