Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is one of the best defensive players in the NBA, and yet oddsmakers think he has almost no chance of winning the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.
DraftKings Sportsbook has released its betting odds for Defensive Player of the Year, and Smart is a long shot, to say the least. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounpo is the betting favorite to win DPOY and back-to-back league MVP awards.
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Here are the latest DPOY odds:
Giannis Antetokounpo: -230
Anthony Davis: +150
Rudy Gobert: +2500
Patrick Beverley: +10000
Joel Embiid: +10000
Kawhi Leonard: +10000
Marcus Smart: +10000
Six others at +10000
The Celtics guard has a 104.3 defensive rating, 0.14 defensive win shares, 1.6 steals per game (11th-best in the league) and 11 charges drawn.
But perhaps the most impressive part of Smart's defensive game is his ability to guard all five positions. Whether it's a point guard, an elite wing or even a center, Smart defends every position and does it at a high level. This kind of defensive versatility has been quite valuable for a Celtics team that has the fourth-best defensive rating in the league, which exceeds many preseason expectations for Boston's defense.
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NBA legend and TNT analyst Dwyane Wade gave Smart plenty of credit during the network's broadcast of a March 3 game between the C's and Brooklyn Nets.
“Listen, I know that this award is normally a big man’s award -- and big men do deserve it -- but this year, we need to get back to the Gary Paytons of the world, the Michael Jordans of the world, where guards get the Defensive Player of the Year award,” Wade said at halftime.
“What Marcus Smart has done, you saw him tonight when he met [Jarrett Allen] at the rim, he’s fearless. And it’s not just the blocks, it’s the hustle. It’s the diving on the floor for the ball, it’s the switching one through five that the guy does. So I think he needs more credit.”
Even if Smart doesn't win DPOY, there's still a very good chance he earns a spot on the NBA All-Defensive first or second team. He was on the All-Defensive first team last season for the first time in his career.