NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds 2024: Gobert Closes as Heavy Favorite Over Wembanyama

Rudy Gobert was the runaway favorite by the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds at the end of the regular season, according to the latest NBA odds from our best NBA betting sites.

It looks like Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert will be joining elite company as the favorite to win his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. After missing out on the honor in each of the last two seasons, Gobert closed as the runaway favorite to win DPOY across our best sports betting sites.

As a near-lock to take home the hardware, he will likely join Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo as the only players in NBA history to win the award four times in their career. The only player that was even in the same universe as Gobert was "The Extraterrestrial" himself, Victor Wembanyama. The NBA Rookie of the Year odds favorite, Wemby made the race more interesting down the stretch, but ultimately was never going to catch Gobert.

Gobert held the top spots in this market for four months, and even as the San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom climbed the oddsboard, he didn't have enough time to catch the three-time DPOY winner. It was Gobert's award to lose and he never budged an inch as the T-Wolves finished as the No. 3 seed in the West and a legitimate NBA Championship odds contender.

Here's a look at how the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds closed, along with our top NBA picks.  

NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds 2024

(Odds updated as of April 9)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year favorite 2024

Rudy Gobert (-3500 via bet365)

After opening the season with +1000 odds or longer at our best sports betting sites to win Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert had seen his odds get shorter and shorter this season. With three DPOYs under his belt, it's somewhat of a surprise he opened with such long odds and he's rewarding early bettors for doing their due diligence.

Even as Wemby racked up block shots over the last month of the season, it was hard to imagine Gobert slipping from the top spots with his impressive numbers. Gobert's 5.8 defensive win shares ranked first in the NBA this season, his 106.6 defensive rating was the best among players who play at least 24 minutes per game, and his 2.1 blocks per game ranked sixth in the NBA.

With Gobert as Minnesota's defensive anchor this season, the Timberwolves finished first in the NBA in defensive rating (109.0), allowed the fewest points per game in the league (106.5), and averaged the fifth most defensive rebounds per game (34.5). 

Victor Wembanyama (+1100 via FanDuel)

It's been a grind for Wembanyama to climb into the second shortest odds for Defensive Player of the Year. Not that long ago, his odds were listed as long as +7500 at BetMGM and as recently as mid-February four of our five best best sports betting apps had his odds no shorter than +2000. 

The favorite in the NBA Rookie of the Year odds, Wembanyama has done nothing short of live up to the hype that comes with being the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. While he's almost guaranteed to win ROY at this point, he was in play for DPOY throughout the back half of the season. The Spurs star led the NBA in blocks (3.6) and finished tied for 22nd in steals (1.2), making him the only player in the league to be averaging a combined four blocks and steals per game

It was never going be easy for Wembanyama to catch Gobert with the Spurs' lackluster season as a cellar dweller in the West, but he made a real push to end the season. Over his last 24 games, Wemby averaged 4.6 blocks per game and 1.5 steals per game. He'll likely open as a DPOY favorite for the 2024-25 season.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds over time

After opening at +1000 to win the award, Gobert quickly became the clear front-runner in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year market. He spent months atop the oddsboard, and while his odds did lengthen over the All-Star break, they only got shorter over the back half of the season. 

As more contenders, like Jarrett Allen and Bam Adebayo, became long shots in the DPOY race, it appeared that Wembanyama was Gobert's only real competition. Even still, Wemby never got within shouting distance of Gobert.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year opening odds

Odds as of Oct. 24, 2023

Recent NBA Defensive Player of the Year winners

NBA Defensive Player of the Year FAQs

Who is the favorite for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year?

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert closed as the betting favorite (-3000) to win the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Gobert's odds were as short as -3500, which implies a 97.22% probability he'll win the award, according to our odds calculator. 

Who won NBA Defensive Player of the Year last year?

Jaren Jackson Jr. won the 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award on the strength of 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game.

When will NBA Defensive Player of the Year be decided?

Though the date for the 2024 award announcement hasn't been decided, the award was announced on April 17, 2023.

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