The Best Defensive Players During the 2019-20 NBA Season

While most of us pay attention to scoring and offense, there are players in the NBA who take pride in their defensive efforts. These players aren’t necessarily just pure defenders. Most of them are two-way players who can deliver the goods on both ends of the floor.

During the 2019-20 season, there were standouts on the defensive end of the court and we would like to give them credit here as we list down the best defensive players in the NBA during the 2019-20 NBA season:

Kawhi Leonard

No list of defensive players would be complete without the Klaw. Leonard entered the NBA with defense as his meal ticket. Remember LeBron’s reaction when Kawhi checked in during Game 5 of the 2013 NBA Finals? That says it all. Leonard is one of the best one on one defenders in the NBA today. He is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and five All-Defensive team honors. He has the best defensive rating on the Clippers team and he ranked 5th overall in steals in the NBA during the 2019-20 season at 1.8 steals per game.

Leonard is beyond numbers though. His huge hands help him make plenty of pass deflections and if he isn’t blocking your shot, he will surely alter it. And don’t forget, he sticks like glue when he wants to lock you down. No doubt, the 2019 Finals MVP and two-time NBA champion was one of the best defensive players during the 2019-20 season.

Brook Lopez

The big guy can shoot and he is one of the best spot-up three-point shooters in the league but somehow, he shot just 29.6% from deep and made just 1.4 three-pointers per game during the 2019-20 season. Those are his lowest numbers since 2017 when he started adding a three-point arsenal to his game. But that decline didn’t mean that Lopez had a bad season. He was having a very good overall season. Sure, Lopez’s offensive numbers took a slide but his defense made up for that.

Lopez ranked 2nd to Giannis Antetokounmpo in defensive rating at 99.0 and the two of them are the only players in the league this season to have a defensive rating under 100. He also ranked 4th overall in defensive win shares at 3.9 during the 2019-20 season. Lopez also averaged a career-high 2.4 blocks per game this season which was 2nd best in the league behind Hassan Whiteside’s 3.1 swats per contest. So while this guy loves to stay outside and knock the three-ball on offense, he is very active on defense and uses his length well to block shots.

Ben Simmons

You can criticize him all you want for his lack of an outside shot and his hesitation to take the three-point basket. But that doesn’t take away the fact that Ben Simmons is one of the top impact players in the NBA during the 2019-20 season. Simmons has excellent court vision and is a terrific passer. He was 5th in the league in passing during the 2019-20 season at 8.2 assists per game. Defensively, he was outstanding for the Sixers.

His size and length made it difficult for offensive players to find their rhythm as he harassed them with his long arms and quick reflexes. Simmons led the NBA in steals during the 2019-20 season at 2.1 steals per game, which is a career-high for the 6-10 Aussie. He also ranked second to Anthony Davis in loose ball recoveries at 1.9 per game and was the league leader (tied with AD) for defensive loose ball recoveries at 1.0 per game.

Jimmy Butler

He is called Jimmy Buckets for his ability to score as a shooting guard but while he has a terrific offensive arsenal, Jimmy Butler is also known as a vocal team leader and one of the best defenders in the NBA who can guard multiple positions. Lockdown? No problem, Jimmy guards opponents like a leech and he is one of the most disruptive defenders in the NBA.

He fit perfectly with Miami which is a Top 10 defensive team in the league. Miami is a hard-nosed and defense-oriented team so there was no surprise why Jimmy flourished in Coach Spo’s team. Butler allowed opponents to shoot only 31% from three-point distance and he was among the league leaders in being the nearest defender to a three-point shooter. Butler was also tied for 6th in the league in steals at 1.7 steals per game this season.

Andre Drummond

Hassan Whiteside has been criticized as a player creating empty statistics. That’s because he keeps on putting up impressive numbers year after year but his efforts have not resulted in wins. But that is not correct. When you look at the advanced defensive statistics, Drummond is an elite as he ranks 6th in defensive rating at 102.9 points per 100 possessions and 5th in defensive win shares at 3.6 during the 2019-20 season.

He is the only player to be in the Top 3 in rebounding and steals. Drummond was the NBA’s rebounding leader during the 2019-20 season at 15.2 rebounds per game and he was third in steals at 1.9 thefts per outing. Drummond also led all NBA centers in deflections with a total of 201 this season and was the only big man in the Top 10 of that statistical category in the entire NBA. He also ranked 7th among big men in total shots contested and had one of the most active hands this season.

Rudy Gobert

People made fun of him as the best defensive player in the NBA because he shut down the entire league during the COVID pandemic but kidding aside, Gobert is the most dominant defensive player in the NBA right now. He has won the Defensive Player of the Year award in back to back seasons and was looking to become the second player in NBA history to win the award three seasons in a row. Sure, Gobert had plenty of competition this year in Giannis and Anthony Davis but the Stifle Tower was having another top-notch season on the defensive end.

Gobert ranked 5th in the league in rebounding at 13.7 boards grabbed per contest. He was also sixth overall in blocked shots. Among the Top 8 shot blockers in the league during the 2019-20 season, Gobert was the second-best rebounder, next only to Hassan Whiteside. If we talk about advanced stats, Gobert ranked 6th in defensive rating at 103.3 points per 100 possessions and was third in defensive win shares at 4.0 during the 2019-20 season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

The 2019 MVP was headed to another MVP season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season. But not did Giannis appear to be headed to back to back MVP awards, he was also on course to join Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season. The Greek Freak has led the Bucks in almost all major statistical categories since last season and this year, he’s taken it a notch higher.

Antetokounmpo ranked third in the league in rebounding at 13.7 boards grabbed per contest. Aside from that, he also averaged 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while also leading the NBA in defensive rating at 96.3 and defensive win shares at 4.8. Milwaukee ranked 5th in the league in points allowed and the Bucks led the league in defensive rating at 101.6 points per 100 possessions allowed. Milwaukee also allowed only 38.8 points in the paint this season.

Anthony Davis

While everyone else is going for the MVP award, Anthony Davis entered this season telling the world that he wanted to be the Defensive Player of the Year award. He wasn’t joking. Davis was all over the defensive end for the Lakers. In the first 498 shots attempted against the Lakers with him as the closest defender, opposing teams missed 311 shots. That’s impressive given he is supposed to be an interior player. But that was the kind of intensity he brought to the Lakers this season and he did it on both ends of the floor.

Davis ranked third overall in blocks at 2.4 swats per contest. He was also averaging 1.5 steals per game. Davis and Andre Drummond were the only centers in the Top 15 in steals during the 2019-20 season. AD also ranked second to Giannis Antetokounmpo in defensive win shares at 4.1. He was also a terrific defender against the pick and roll as the switch defender with only 32 opponents taking shots in the first 100 times he was a switch defender. No doubt, AD was the leading candidate to win Defensive Player of the Year this season.