NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds for 2024-25 Season: Victor Wembanyama Already an Odds On Favorite

Can Victor Wembanyama win his first Defensive Player of the Year award this season? Oddsmakers already believe it'll happen.

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Victor Wembanyama invitational. 

The San Antonio Spurs second-year big man enters the 2024-25 season as the odds on favorite (-170) to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. At -170, he has an implied probability of 62.96 percent to win the award – a crazy number for several reasons.

First off, the Defensive Player of the Year is one of the awards that is tied to the 65-game threshold in the NBA’s new CBA – meaning that any player that wants to win this award can only miss 17 games during the regular season. As a rookie, Wemby only missed 11, but there are other players near the top of the odds – like Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley – that missed too many games to even qualify last season. 

There are a few things to look at in the Defensive Player of the Year market – an award dominated by big men. 

First off, winners usually come from a team with a top defense. Since 2008, every winner has come from a squad that ranked in the top five in the NBA in defensive rating, which could knock a few of the contenders from this list. 

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert – last year’s winner – led the Wolves to the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA. 

Secondly, as much as it may frustrate some – counting stats matter. 

Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo – in my opinion – may be the most valuable defender in the NBA for his ability to switch on the perimeter and guard multiple positions from the center spot, yet he doesn’t ever put up the block or steal numbers (he averaged 1.0 steal and 0.9 blocks per game for his career) to get the nod in this award. 

After Wembanyama, there isn’t a single player with shorter than +1300 odds to win the award. That means, even if we bet on Wemby, there is a way to get some value in this market as well. 

Here’s a breakdown of the odds as well as four candidates to consider betting on in the 2024-25 season. 

2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

• Victor Wembanyama: -170
• Rudy Gobert: +1300
• Bam Adebayo: +1300
• Evan Mobley: +1600
• Chet Holmgren: +1600
• Anthony Davis: +1800
• Jaren Jackson Jr.: +2000
• Giannis Antetokounmpo: +2000
• OG Anunoby: +3000
• Alex Caruso: +3500
• Joel Embiid: +4000
• Jrue Holiday: +5000
• Mikal Bridges: +6000
• Herbert Jones: +7000
• Jalen Suggs: +7500
• Lu Dort: +8000
• Jaden McDaniels: +8000
• Jonathan Isaac: +8000
• Jarrett Allen: +8000

Victor Wembanyama Defensive Player of the Year Odds

It’s not a secret why Wembanyama – the runner up for the DPOY as a rookie – is the odds on favorite in this market.

Last season, he averaged a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game while also putting up 1.2 steals per night. The Spurs’ defensive ranking with Wembanyama on the court last season was 116.7, but when he was off it jumped all the way up to 119.6. 

The issue for Wemby is going to be whether or not the Spurs can put together one of the better defensive units in the league. Veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes should help, but San Antonio was just 21st in the league in defensive rating last season. 

If there’s anyone that can buck the trend from 2008, it’s probably Wemby since he’s likely to lead the league in blocks by a wide margin. I don’t mind betting him at this number, but you should build a portfolio behind him in case an injury knocks him out of contention. 

Bam Adebayo Defensive Player of the Year Odds

I may have hinted at this already, but Adebayo is one of my favorite players to bet in this market. 

Last season, he made his All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career – long overdue – and I think the market is showing that he could be the candidate next up after Wemby since he’s tied with Gobert in the odds. 

Adebayo isn’t going to put up massive counting numbers, but he anchors a Miami defense that was No. 5 in the league last season and lost a key player in Caleb Martin this offseason. If the Heat repeat that success, Bam is going to get some consideration for the DPOY. Also, he’s extremely durable, missing 13 or fewer games in all but one season of his career. 

Anthony Davis Defensive Player of the Year Odds

There was some steam around Anthony Davis winning the DPOY towards the end of last season, and he earned the No. 4 spot in the voting.

An elite shot blocker, Davis averages 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game for his career – blocking at least two shots per game in all but two seasons of his NBA career. 

Health is the issue for Davis, but he did play 76 games last season. The Lakers ended up finishing 17th in defensive rating last season, but if they make a leap under new head coach J.J. Redick, Davis may capture the first DPOY of his career. 

Jrue Holiday Defensive Player of the Year Odds

This is a long, long shot play because it’s rare that guards win this award.

However, if you ask NBA players, many around the league will refer to Holiday as the best defensive player there is. 

Boston has a ton of great defenders (Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford) and it finished No. 2 in defensive rating last season. We saw Marcus Smart – a guard – win this award on the Celtics, and it’s possible Holiday could follow a similar blueprint. 

He’s worth a small wager in this market.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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