Gobert, Williams III early betting favorites to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year

We almost became numb to how good a defender Rudy Gobert was in Utah, how he constantly cleaned up the messes of a team without quality defenders on the perimeter.

Now he’s about to be showcased in a new light in Minnesota, which is why he is the early betting favorite to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Again. It would be his fourth.

NBC’s partner at Points Bet has its early odds out for the 2023 DPOY award and there are a lot of familiar names at the top of the list with Gobert. Here are the top 10:

Rudy Gobert +500Robert Williams III +650Bam Adebayo +800Giannis Antetokounmpo +800Draymond Green +800Anthony Davis +1000Mikal Bridges +1200Myles Turner +1600 Joel Embed +2500Jarrett Allen +2500

A few thoughts on that list:

• Gobert deserves to be No. 1. There will be no taking his defense for granted this season.

• Notice reigning DPOY Marcus Smart is not in the top 10, he is +3000. While I think it’s unlikely that he will win the award back-to-back, he’s still a quarterback and a key part of a Celtics’ defense that will be near the top of the league. Those odds seem long.

• If Robert Williams III can stay healthy, he might be the Celtic to win the award this year.

• My early pick: Bam Adebayo. With P.J. Tucker now in Philly, more will be asked of Adebayo and this may be his year to step out and win the award.

• If Anthony Davis is playing well enough to be in the mix to win this award, the Lakers will be better than projected.

• Those are some long odds for Joel Embiid, one of the league’s best rim protectors and defensive big men. He’s got more help in Philly this season, but this is the man in the MVP mix who could win this award if the 76ers’ defense is better than expected.

• Myles Turner could also be a good