Tip-off for the 2026-27 NBA season is almost here. All 30 teams are locked and loaded for a new season full of new possibilities, and we’ve got a boatload of futures to explore on DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s dig into the current odds leaders for Defensive Player of the Year, predict the winner, and get into some best bets.
NBA DPOY Favorites
Here’s a look at the top players in DPOY odds on the DraftKings Sportsbook:
No surprise, Victor Wembanyama is the overwhelming favorite to win back-to-back DPOY awards. At -360, Wembanyama has a 78% implied probability of winning it again. He has everything going for him: the massive highlights, the stats, and the winning team. The only real risk is injury—which is a big risk with him—but if he’s healthy for 65 games, the award is his.
The top five match last year’s top-five vote-getters exactly. Chet Holmgren, who got stuffed in a locker by Wemby during the Western Conference Finals, is second in the odds. He finished as the runner-up last season and would be a primary candidate to win if Wemby goes down. Ausar Thompson is third after a breakout season for the Detroit Pistons. Rudy Gobert follows, and he might as well have the award named after him by now. Scottie Barnes rounds out the top five, the two-way engine of an emerging Raptors squad.
Now that we know the field, who is the safest bet to win DPOY?
Prediction: Victor Wembanyama (-360)
Seriously, who else would I predict here?
Picking anyone else is basically betting on a Wemby injury. At his size, he’s certainly an injury risk, but it’s far from certain that he’ll miss the 18+ games that would knock him out of contention. Still, Wemby isn’t a good value here. Who should we look at for longer shots?
Best Bet: Scottie Barnes +4000
Winning DPOY is hard without a strong team and elite defensive numbers. Luckily for Scottie Barnes, the Raptors have an exceptional defense that only got better in the offseason.
Last season, Toronto ranked fifth in defensive rating. By forcing turnovers and difficult shots, the Raptors built a defense that drove them into the playoffs, much to many people’s surprise. Barnes was the defensive focal point as a true Swiss Army Knife forward, but the team has many important contributors. Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles was an exceptional defensive weapon, Jakob Poeltl did important work on the glass, and they had a barrage of solid point-of-attack defenders to throw at their opponents.
Now it gets even better. Brandon Ingram, arguably their biggest defensive liability, was replaced by Kawhi Leonard. Ingram’s -0.6 defensive estimated plus-minus (D-EPM) was the team’s second-worst mark and ranked in the 34th percentile league-wide. By contrast, Leonard posted a +1.3 D-EPM, a 92nd-percentile mark that would have placed him fourth on last season’s Raptors squad.
Leonard has a sterling defensive reputation as a former DPOY, but Barnes will still be the face of this defense. If the Raptors win 50+ games and have a top-three defense, Barnes has as good a chance as anyone if Wemby goes down. At 40-1 odds, the value is tremendous.
