The most improved defenders in the NBA
Every season, conversations about breakout players and Most Improved Player candidates focus on offensive growth, with the less glamorous end of the floor almost always getting short shrift. This column aims to rectify that by looking at the players who've made the biggest defensive leaps.
The candidates can range from All-Stars to role players. They can be guys who improved their defense from bad to average, average to good, or good to great. Last year's list featured the likes of Scottie Barnes, Alperen Sengun, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Goga Bitadze.
Here are the most improved defenders of the 2024-25 season. (Stats updated through March 12.)
Dyson Daniels, Hawks
I waffled on whether to put Daniels on this list because I didn't want to undersell the defense he displayed before this year. In his first two NBA seasons with the Pelicans, Daniels established himself as an on-ball hellhound who could dodge screens more artfully than any 6-foot-8 human should be able to, while regularly containing drives and blowing up dribble-handoffs with his active hands and 6-foot-11 wingspan. The issue was his offense, which was so uneven that he could only showcase his defensive aptitude for about 20 minutes a game. In that sense, his offensive growth this year has been an equally important development.
Ultimately, though, I couldn't ignore the extent to which the 21-year-old has leveled up as a defensive playmaker in his first season with the Hawks. His on-ball work has been more impressive than ever, particularly his ability to pressure the ball the length of the court and routinely pick his own man's pocket without gambling himself out of position. He's also been more disruptive as a team defender, using his length to swipe at unsuspecting ball-handlers around the nail or blow up entry passes with blind-side assaults on the post.
That's manifested in him averaging a ridiculous 6.0 deflections per game, which is 1.9 more than any other player this season, and 1.8 more than any other player in NBA.com's entire 10-year hustle-stat tracking database. He's also averaging 3.0 steals a night; if he can carry it through the final 17 games of the season, he'll be only the 15th qualified player in NBA history to crack that threshold, and the first since Nate McMillan in 1993-94.
Daniels is the rare guard to seriously challenge for Defensive Player of the Year (he's currently second in odds behind Evan Mobley), and he's the single biggest reason the Hawks have jumped from 27th to 19th in defensive efficiency.
Jalen Williams, Thunder
Like Daniels, Williams was an already strong defender who's elevated himself into elite-of-the-elite territory as a third-year player this season. There's plenty of credit to go around in OKC's high-pressure, help-heavy, turnover-forcing defensive machine. Between Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, there are perimeter stoppers, rim-protectors, and event creators up and down the roster. But no Thunder player has made a bigger or more consequential jump in checking all three of the aforementioned boxes than Williams.
Though he stands at just 6-foot-5, Williams can credibly guard five positions because he's built like a tank and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan. Opponents trying to isolate against him have shot 8-for-36 with eight turnovers this season, per NBA Advanced Stats. Among 79 players who've defended at least 50 such possessions this season, no one's allowed fewer points per isolation. He has the foot speed and great hands to corral point guards, and his strength development has allowed him to stand up any wing in the league and just about any big man as well.
That bore out early this season when both Hartenstein and Holmgren were injured and Williams was thrust into duty as OKC's starting center. He succeeded in that role not only because he could hold his ground against 7-footers, but because he's become arguably the league's best rim-protecting guard. Opponents are shooting 55.8% at the basket when Williams is in the vicinity, the lowest mark for any guard who's contested at least 100 such shots this season. Whether he's playing the five and anchoring the back line by himself, or simply providing cover for one of the Thunder's traditional centers, he's fully leveraging his physical tools thanks to refined instincts and timing.
When Williams recently advocated for the creation of a perimeter-specific DPOY award, he tried to lay out the distinction in defensive responsibilities for guards and bigs. "I've never had to block shots, and a big's never had ..." he started, then caught himself. "Well, actually I have, so maybe not a good example."
That moment of self-recognition captured the reality of what the 23-year-old has turned himself into: a defender who can do it all.
P.J. Washington, Mavericks
I'm stretching the parameters for this one a bit, because Washington's turnaround dates back to last year's trade deadline. But Mavs fans haven't had much to feel good about recently, and this is a much-needed nod of recognition to a guy whose defensive leap played an instrumental role in the team's Finals run a season ago. Washington's improvement has continued into 2024-25, even as the foundation around him has crumbled.
Given how quickly his defense perked up after moving from Charlotte to Dallas, this also might be the first such selection based purely on effort. Washington showed flashes of defensive acumen across his five years as a Hornet, but his engagement level on that end ranged from unenthusiastic to apathetic, especially in more recent seasons. Since becoming a Maverick, he's been tasked with guarding top opposing wing threats virtually every night - even more so this season with Klay Thompson replacing Derrick Jones Jr. in the starting lineup - and he's truly risen to that challenge. Dallas has allowed 6.3 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor this season, a 91st-percentile differential, per Cleaning the Glass.
He's been excellent on the ball - handsy and physical but also balanced and disciplined - which has allowed him to actualize the potential the Hornets long saw in him as a switch defender. Perhaps more importantly, he's been making pinpoint back-side rotations and serving as a genuine deterrent at the rim. Before the trade last year, opponents shot 67.2% against him inside the restricted area. That number was higher than 62% in each of his seasons in Charlotte. In 76 games with Dallas, it's 56.4%.
It's a shame those strides are currently being wasted on a cursed team, but if and when the Mavs get healthy, Washington will form a monstrous defensive frontcourt with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II.
Detroit Pistons
When a team goes from allowing the fifth-most points per possession to the ninth fewest in the span of a year, it's impossible to assign credit to any one specific place.
The Pistons' defense rapidly improved in every conceivable area, and nearly all of that growth happened internally. Sure, they added important vets in the offseason, but it's not like Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, or Tim Hardaway Jr. have a history of transforming defenses for the better (though Harris has been very good this year). Detroit's instead been propelled by a collective leap forward from all its young players, starting in the middle with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart.
Duren has a preposterous 7-foot-5 wingspan and explosive vertical athleticism, but didn't have the defensive impact to match until this season. He can still be overly jumpy and his footwork still needs some refinement, but his positioning and spatial awareness have improved immensely, especially in drop coverage. Court sense has never been an issue for Stewart, who's always defended well in space whether dropping or switching. Where he's improved most is as a pure rim-protector. He stands just 6-foot-8 and doesn't have Duren's leaping ability, but he has comparable length and better timing. He's nearly tripled his block rate this season, and is holding opponents to 45.5% shooting at the rim, lower than any qualified player contesting at least four such shots per game.
The Pistons are also much stronger on the perimeter. Ausar Thompson is a quick-twitch athletic marvel who, much like his twin brother (see below), went from being a very good rookie defender to the most important cog in a top-10 unit as a sophomore. He manages to be in multiple places at once, seemingly teleporting from strong side to weak side, from paint to 3-point line and back again. His per-minute steal rate is almost on par with Daniels', which is the biggest reason Detroit's jumped from 27th to eighth in opponent turnover rate.
Cade Cunningham's offensive leap has deservedly received most of the attention, but his defensive growth has been a big story, too: he's gotten a way better feel for how to use his size on that end of the floor, both on the ball and in the gaps. Jaden Ivey also showed improvement before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Marcus Sasser earned more opportunity after Ivey went down and impressed with his friskiness at the point of attack.
On top of all that individual development, the Pistons are also nailing the team- and scheme-oriented stuff that requires attentiveness and connectivity from everyone, like communicating off-ball switches, helping the helper, and gang rebounding. New coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his assistants deserve a ton of credit for their attention to detail and getting the necessary defensive buy-in. It's the jet fuel powering the NBA's most unexpected rise this season.
Honorable mentions: Amen Thompson, Rockets; Toumani Camara, Blazers
Barely missing the cut are the two best non-Wemby sophomore defenders in the league. Both are ridiculously versatile forward-sized guys who, while plenty capable of guarding on the wing and protecting the paint, are mostly deployed as condor-like predators at the point of attack.
They're only down here because of how spectacular they were as rookies. But I still gave strong consideration to the continued strides both made in establishing themselves as All-Defense-caliber guys - and the Western Conference's Defensive Players of the Month in January and February, respectively.
Others receiving consideration: Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Maxey, Santi Aldama, Jake LaRavia, Jaxson Hayes, Malik Monk