There’s a specific profile of a Defensive Player of the Year. We know this because previous winners of the award have often won it on multiple occasions. Last year’s winner, Rudy Gobert, won it for the third time in his career. He’s finished top three in the voting in each of the past six seasons.
Since the award was introduced in 1983, ten players have won it more than once. Furthermore, four players have won it at least three times. That limits the number of players who have a legitimate chance actually to win the award. Those winners also tend to play in the frontcourt as the last guard to win the prize was Gary Payton in 1996.