Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat looks on during the game between the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 21, 2026 in Houston.
Kenneth Richmond
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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes the top two candidates for this season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year award will be at Kaseya Center on Monday.
While the betting odds paint a different picture, Spoelstra has Heat center Bam Adebayo and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama as the leading candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year honor. Adebayo and Wembanyama have yet to win this award during their NBA careers.
“If we can really defend the way we’ve been defending the last month, then I think it’s a two-man race for the Defensive Player of the Year,” Spoelstra said before Adebayo and the Heat hosted Wembanyama and the Spurs on Monday night in Miami. “I think it’s just whatever flavor you like. They’ve won at an extremely high level, San Antonio. And their defense has been consistently a notch above ours. But we’re starting to catch them in that.”
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Wembanyama has the best betting odds to win the Defensive Player of the Year award this season and Adebayo has the fifth-best odds to earn the honor. Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Toronto’s Scottie Barnes all have better odds than Adebayo to be named the Defensive Player of the Year, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Adebayo (Heat entered Monday with the NBA’s sixth-ranked defensive rating) and Wembanyama (Spurs entered Monday with the NBA’s third-ranked defensive rating) have been the anchors for elite defenses this season. But they have done it in different ways.
Adebayo, 28, has established himself as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile defenders at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds. Not only has he proven he can effectively guard every position on the court, but he also possesses a unique versatility to toggle between different defensive schemes from possession to possession and game to game.
Adebayo ranks in the NBA’s 98th percentile for estimated defensive plus-minus this season. He also ranks 11th in defensive win shares this season, which is an estimate the number of wins a player contributes to their team specifically through defensive performance.
The Heat has allowed 109.3 points per 100 possessions with Adebayo on the court this season for a defensive rating that would rank third among teams in the NBA.
Wembanyama, 22, is the top rim protector in the league at 7-foot-4. Wembanyama is averaging an NBA-high three blocks per game and opponents are shooting 10.1% below their usual shooting percentage on two-pointers when he’s the primary defender, according to NBA tracking data.
Wembanyama ranks in the NBA’s 99th percentile for estimated defensive plus-minus this season. He also ranks first in defensive win shares this season.
“It just depends on what flavor you like,” Spoelstra continued. “A unicorn shot blocker that totally changes everything in the paint or a unicorn one through five that can do any scheme in this league and is showcasing a real unique ability to impact the game defensively.”
Spoelstra also believes Adebayo deserves serious consideration to make his first All-NBA team. The three All-NBA teams are now positionless.
Adebayo entered Monday averaging 20.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 32.6% on 5.3 three-point attempts per game this season. Adebayo is one of only four players around the league who entered Monday on track to appear in the 65 regular-season games required to be eligible for postseason awards while averaging at least 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal per game this season, along with Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Wembanyama and Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson.
The Heat has also been 11.1 points per 100 possessions better when Adebayo has been on the court compared to when he hasn’t been on the court this season.
One of the few big blemishes on Adebayo’s All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year resumes is the Heat’s record. Miami entered Monday in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a 38-33 record this season.
“Obviously I wish we had more wins at this point,” Spoelstra said. “But in terms of what he does on both sides of the floor, to me, that’s All-NBA. It takes people appreciating how many things he does on the defensive side of the floor, in addition to taking on a lot more offensive responsibilities.
“The offensive responsibilities I think people see that. Maybe now that’ll direct people’s attention to see how great of a year he’s had defensively.”
Injury report
Heat guard Norman Powell is listed as questionable for Monday’s matchup against the Spurs because of left calf tightness. Powell also missed Saturday’s loss to the Houston Rockets because of the calf issue.
But the Heat is expected to get back forwards Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left hip tightness) and Andrew Wiggins (left big toe sesamoiditis) back from injury on Monday, as they are both listed as probable for the game. Jaquez has missed the last two games and Wiggins has missed the last eight games.
The Heat has already ruled out Vlad Goldin (G League), Trevor Keels (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League).
The Spurs listed starters Stephon Castle (right hip tightness) and Devin Vassell (right hamstring tightness) as questionable for Monday’s game in Miami. San Antonio is expected to have the rest of its rotation available for the contest.
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.