Nerlens Noel had a historic season for a rookie on the defensive side, which we’ve touched on recently. The rookie blocked over 140 shots, while also having 133 steals, both top-10 in the NBA. In short, he was really effective on defense for a 20-year-old kid who sat out a season with an ACL tear.
No one expected him to win Defensive Player of the Year, but I was very interested to see if his name would bring any votes at all. Turns out, he did. The DPOY balloting was just announced and Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs was the winner.