Defense is something of an enigma in basketball. Everyone agrees on its importance, but we hardly ever celebrate those who are excellent at it. Most Valuable Player, Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, all of these awards are heavily-tied to a player’s offensive performance. Of the 28 players selected to the All-Star team, only one of them (Chet Holmgren) averaged less than 18 PPG. The Ringer’s Top 25 only features three such players.

It makes sense. Offense is more about the individual, while defense is about five guys moving in perfect harmony. But that doesn’t mean that the great defenders don’t deserve their flowers. That’s what we’re here to do.

Now, since rim protection is by far and away the most valuable aspect of defense, the best defenders are usually going to be centers. A true top ten list of the “best” or “most impactful” defenders is going to consist mainly of centers. But that wouldn’t be fun, and it would miss out on other vital elements of a strong unit of fortification: defensive playmaking, matchup versatility, scheme versatility, isolation defense, and screen navigation.

So, to keep things fair, we are going to give three top five lists: one for bigs, one for wings/forwards, and one for guards. Also, keep in mind, this is a list projecting defense for the upcoming season, not honoring efforts of the past. Like any list, there are going to be some rankings that you disagree with, but I feel like this one includes most of the heaviest hitters.

Now, without further ado, here are the best defenders in the NBA heading into the 2026-27 regular season, ranked.

Bigs

Could anyone have been our number one big man defender? Victor Wembanyama is not only the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and the best defender in basketball, he also has a real chance of putting together the greatest defensive season we’ve ever seen.

Joining him at the top of the list are Chet Holmgren and Rudy Gobert. Under normal circumstances, these two would be competing for the claim as the best defender in basketball. However, both of them are still doing all-time great things on that end of the floor. Holmgren gets the slight edge over Gobert because he’s just entering his prime (this will be his age-24 season), while The Stifle Tower (age-34) may be on the way out of it.

Bam Adebayo and Jaren Jackson Jr.’s place on this list is more about projection than last season’s production. Adebayo has years of postseason success under his belt, which have served to demonstrate his top tier physicality, motor, and versatility. With Giannis Antetokounmpo now in South Beach, Adebayo will now get to focus on his defensive roots. As for Jackson, his last couple seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies were kind of dumpster fire. Now, the Utah Jazz are ready to start their next chapter of winning, and I think that will coincide with Jackson regaining his DPOY form.

I really wanted to give Isaiah Stewart the fifth spot. No center who played at least 30 games last season had a greater impact on shots around the rim. But his durability remains a serious question mark.

Wings/Forwards

The Thompson Twins may be the freakish pair of physical athletes the NBA has ever seen. And unlike his brother playing in Texas, Ausar Thompson doesn’t have to conserve energy on the defensive side of the ball to handle a high-offensive usage. Look at any advanced stat, and he’s chief among any player who does not play center, which makes sense because he’s the best non-big man in basketball.

The ideal defensive forward is one who can wear a lot of hats. Whether that be guarding tough matchups, wrecking havoc off-the-ball, or providing secondary rim protection, you want a jack of all trades. Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby both check all these boxes, but I’m giving Barnes the slightest of edges because he’s younger (by roughly four years) and a little more beloved by impact metrics.

After a sophomore campaign that saw him compared to the likes of Scottie Pippen, Toumani Camara took a step back defensively in 2025-26 – nosediving in metrics like Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, steal rate, and block rate. However, I think that was a product of the injury-ravaged season the Portland Trail Blazers were dealing with. What I can’t quit is Camara’s ability to guard seemingly any player type, his incredible blend of size, verticality, and speed, and the fact that he’s one of the rare extremely gifted defenders who isn’t above taking a charge (first among wings last season). Look for a bounce back defensive campaign in 2026-27.

I didn’t know what to do with the last spot. Aaron Gordon and Jalen Williams fit the profile for an ideal wing defender that we outlined earlier, but both of them come with injury concerns. Meanwhile, Rasheer Flemings and Hugo Gonzalez don’t play enough minutes per game. So, I ultimately gave it to Jaden McDaniels, who is fresh off a complete playoff suffocation on Jamal Murray and now has LaMelo Ball around to take some offensive responsibility off his plate.

Guards

Last but not least, the guards. Do you remember what we said about Thompson being atop of many defensive categories for non-bigs? Well, Alex Caruso was sitting right there on the mountain top with him. Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a defensive rating 12.4 points below the league average when Caruso was on the floor without (!!) Holmgren. Also, who could forget when the 6’5 featherweight was the primary matchup on Nikola Jokic?

Derrick White is an obvious member here. His point-of-attack defense isn’t as strong as some of these other guys, but he makes up for it with his 99th percentile court mapping, off-ball defense, scheme execution, and guard shot-blocking. To that last point, White is just one of four players under 6’5 to block over 500 shots in his career.

Jalen Suggs is basically the Eastern Conference equivalent of Caruso, and he shares a similar statistical profile to the two-time NBA Champion. The only reason he’s down at #3 is his lack of a deep postseason run as proof of concept.

With Luguentz Dort gone, Cason Wallace finally gets his chance to be the team’s full-time starting shooting guard. Wallace certainly benefits from the Thunder’s strong defensive ecosystem, but his blend of power, screen navigation technique, and sturdy hands makes him the torchbearer to Jrue Holiday (who just barely missed the cut because of age).

For the last spot, I’ll go with Dyson Daniels. I’ve always had mixed feelings about Daniels. On one hand, he’s the best defensive playmaker in the game right now. In 2024-25, he tallied more steals than anyone in a single season has this century. However, he often sacrifices positioning to get these steals, and isn’t as good at the other parts of guard defense (point-of-attack, secondary rim protection, etc.). However, last season, his gambles became more calculated. He had fewer steals, but his impact on the Atlanta Hawks defense was more noticeable – going from 61st percentile in Defensive Rating On/Off to the 86th percentile last season (per Cleaning the Glass).

Like Holiday, I penalized Marcus Smart for his age (defense is a young man’s game). Stephon Castle is a menace at the point-of-attack, but that often comes with a boatload of fouls (7th in foul rate among combo guards). Special shoutout to Keon Ellis, the spiritual successor to Matisse Thybulle – another honorable mention.