When the 2014-15 NBA season began, the Utah Jazz looked like a run-of-the-mill lottery team. Some of their up-and-comers, like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, were finding their way on offense, but the team's defense, with Enes Kanter in the middle, was stuck in reverse.
Then, in one fell swoop around last season's midway point, Utah traded Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder, bumped a wiry French center named Rudy Gobert into the starting lineup and became the stingiest defensive squad in the NBA. The Jazz, 19-34 before the swap, went 19-10 the rest of the way while Gobert barged his way into the Defensive Player of the Year race.
Who will emerge as this season's Stifle Tower? The league is filled with candidates across the court. Here are the best bets at all five positions, with honorable mentions below.
Point Guard: D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
At this point, D'Angelo Russell is too far behind Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis and Jahlil Okafor to realistically compete in the NBA's Rookie of the Year race. A role off t ...
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Article written by Josh Martin