Defence wins championships, or so they say, which is part of what makes the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award such a high honour.

The latest: It's fitting that we have two players atop the NBA DPOY odds leaderboard right now, given how tightly contested last year's voting was. Five players received at least 10 first-place votes (out of 100 voters), and seven players received at least one. None of those players were Draymond Green, but he's seeing the shortest DPOY odds right now alongside Bam Adebayo.

Here are the latest NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds

Check out the latest odds to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Click linked odds to add selection to your betslip.

Odds as of 4:32 p.m. on 09/28/2022.

Best odds to win NBA DPOY

The favourite: Bam Adebayo (+350), Draymond Green (+350)

For three years running, Adebayo has found his way onto the NBA's second All-Defensive team. Now, he's trying to vault himself to his first DPOY win.

Adebayo received 13 first-place votes despite playing just 56 games (the fewest of anyone to receive a first-place vote). He made a lasting impression in the playoffs, with 0.144 defensive win shares per game (ninth in NBA).

Still, we aren't sure he's done enough to warrant being a DPOY favourite. And he'll have to be healthier this season to have a chance.

Green doesn't have big rebounding numbers, but he does it all on defence. In the regular season, he was fourth in win shares/game (0.152) among players who appeared in 40-plus games.

Durability is an even bigger factor for Green than it is for Adebayo, though. Green only played 46 games in 2021-22, fewer than in any other season (aside from the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign).

As a former DPOY winner (2016-17), and a seven-time All-Defensive forward, he's got the pedigree to compete. And as someone who grabs rebounds, steals and blocks at a decent rate, he has the ability to build a more balanced stat sheet than most players.

Other NBA Defensive Player of the Year choices

Best value: Rudy Gobert (+600)

We're not sure if it's the team change or perceived voter fatigue, but Gobert has no business owning odds that are nearly twice as long as the favourites.

In the past five years, Gobert has won three NBA DPOY awards. and finished third in the other two seasons. He's one DPOY win away from matching Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most ever.

It's not crazy to think this might someday be renamed the Rudy Gobert award (seriously). Before that happens, you could do worse than getting Gobert at 6-to-1 odds.

In 2021, Gobert was the top rebounder in the NBA (14.7/game), including an NBA-best 11.0 defensive boards/game. He was also second in contested shots (13.1/game), third in defensive field goal percentage (49.3%) and fifth in blocks (2.1/game).

He has averaged at least two blocks in every season since 2014-15, and he's collected double-digit defensive boards on a per-game basis in each of the past three years.

No one is a safe bet to win this award, obviously, but Gobert is as safe a bet as any to be in the running.

Player to watch: Ben Simmons (+2,500)

Of course we're picking a Brooklyn Net in this section.

Simmons is intriguing at this price, but it could totally blow up in a bettor's face as we wait to see the former No. 1 pick return to the court for some meaningful basketball. A back injury, as well as a testy holdout, kept Simmons out of the game for all of last year.

In 2020-21, Simmons was a first-time All-Defensive player — and he finished runner-up in DPOY voting that season. The year prior, Simmons led the NBA in steals (2.1/game) and finished fourth in the award's voting.

If his extensive injury rehab/recovery persists, he'll be a non-factor. And that risk is baked into this lofty price.

But if he's ready to roll, we love the value here for someone who's already been knocking on the door to win this award.