ESPN Expert Picks for 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year

ESPN has released its expert picks for the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The network’s NBA Summer Forecast panel — a group of NBA experts including reporters, editors and analysts — ranked its top three picks for the six major NBA awards. A first-place vote counts as five points, a second-place vote gets three points and a third-place vote accounts for one.

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award last season, but his French counterpart, San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama, took home the preseason vote this summer.

According to ESPN’s NBA Summer Forecast voting, Wembanyama leads all other players with 76 points (67% of the first-place vote). Despite Gobert winning four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024), the three-time All-Star has only managed 29 points (5%) overall.

ESPN NBA Summer Forecast Voting Results for 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Wembanyama finished second in the DPOY as a rookie last season after setting a pair of NBA records. He averaged 2.0 blocks and 2.2 steals in five games while helping France win a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after averaging 3.6 blocks per game with the Spurs last season.

Gobert and Wembanyama could be the frontrunners for the award throughout the 2024-25 regular season. Then there’s Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. Both stars follow the French duo on the list after impressive performances for Team USA.

According to multiple NBA betting agencies, Wembanyama is the odds-on favorite to win next season’s DPOY Award. The members of the ESPN NBA Summer Forecast panel must have taken this into account when making their predictions.