The NBA season has officially started for three weeks, and a lot has already happened. The Rockets and Magic are decent, while the Clippers, Suns, and Bucks have struggled to begin the season, while the 76ers, Celtics, and Nuggets have been dominant.

The players’ play has also been excellent, with Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid vying for MVP for the fourth year in a row. Cam Thomas finally got his moment and has emerged as one of the most improved players. Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are competing for Rookie of the Year.

It’s reasonable for fans to be curious about who the early award winners will be after the first three weeks. To begin the season, the contest for Defensive Player of the Year has been highly interesting. The winner of this award is usually on a playoff team, and many of the guys you would expect to be in the conversation aren’t because their team has been awful.

Here are the early favorites for Defensive Player of the Year.

Power rankings for NBA Defensive Player of the Year

3. Anthony Davis

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a dismal start to the season, but not so awful that Anthony Davis is out of contention for Defensive Player of the Year. Davis has been the dominant defensive player that we have come to expect from him to begin the season.

Davis has been the NBA’s finest rim protector thus far. He has a league-leading three blocks per game and a total of 24 blocks, which also ranks first in the NBA. The only thing that will hinder his rim protection skills is him getting hurt after only missing one game thus far.

Davis ranks 23rd in defensive win shares with 0.4, 54th in defensive box plus-minus with a +0.8, and astonishingly 126th in defensive rating with 109. This low performance in advanced defensive stats usually harms someone’s chances of earning Defensive Player of the Year. These numbers are also influenced by how the rest of the team performs, and the Lakers have struggled defensively outside of Anthony Davis.

Davis is ranked third due to his weak advanced defensive stats. He is also ranked this high because he leads the league in both blocks and blocks plus steals per game (3.9). The stat leader in blocks and blocks plus steals is always considered for Defensive Player of the Year.

Furthermore, the other players who should be in the conversation are on teams that have performed worse than the Lakers. The Lakers are currently a play-in team, while some of the other top DPOY candidates are on teams that are not in the play-in or have poor records.

Although the season is still young, Anthony Davis is expected to maintain his defensive dominance. When Jarred Vanderbilt returns, the Lakers will be even better defensively, and Anthony Davis will take another step defensively, which will be frightening.

2. Mitchell Robinson

Mitchell Robinson has always been a superb defender in the NBA, and through the first three weeks, he has been the NBA’s second-best defender, helping the New York Knicks to a three-game victory streak.

Robinson’s stats from the Knicks’ win over the Hornets have not yet been updated, but he is averaging 1.5 steals and one block per game through his first eight games. The blocks per game are low by his standards, but they are accompanied by many changed shots at the rim. He is one of only a handful players who has averaged at least one block and one steal per game in his first eight games.

More importantly, Robinson is crushing the advanced defensive stats. He now ranks sixth in defensive rating (100.7) and fourth in defensive win shares (0.8). All of this has resulted in the Knicks having the second best defensive rating in basketball and a 5-4 record.

Robinson is one of the few players in the league to average at least one steal and one block per game, as well as ranking in the top five in two advanced defense stats, despite his team being good and boasting the NBA’s second-best defense. He is without a doubt in the running for defensive player of the year.

His defensive intensity isn’t going away because he’s been excellent defensively his entire career. Only one player in the NBA has the defensive energy that he has been anchoring for the Knicks.

1. Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year champion, has risen to the top of the Defensive Player of the Year rankings as the greatest defensive player so far this season.

In Gobert’s first eight games of the season, he is 12th in the NBA in blocks per game at 1.9 and averaging 0.9 steals per game. He also had a league-leading 13.1 rebounds per game. What Gobert has done thus far is nothing that we haven’t seen from him previously.

Even if his blocks have been from years ago, his advanced numbers have been the greatest in the NBA. He is presently leading the NBA in defensive rating with 96.6 and he is also first in the NBA with defensive win shares with 0.8. In defensive box plus-minus he is tied for 18th with a plus 1.8. Above all the Minnesota Timberwolves have the top defensive rating in basketball and have a 6-3 record.

Gobert has been terrific defensively to open the season. If he continues pace with what he’s doing, there is a possibility of him having his finest defensive year ever. Also what’s truly surprising is that his defensive numbers are this good in an offense-driven league where the past few years’ defensive rankings have been distorted because of how great the offense is now.

He leads the league in several defensive stats, his team is good, and he anchors the NBA’s greatest defense. Every single signal has pointed to Rudy Gobert as the finest defensive player in basketball, which is why he is ranked first in this ranking.