Chet Holmgren Tops Victor Wembanyama in this Advanced Defensive Metric

Victor Wembanyama has earned plenty of praise for his defensive efforts this season.

The third-year big man from France has been remarkable on both ends of the floor, but has quickly become on of the NBA's most dominant forces in recent memory as a defender.

With jaw-dropping height, length and mobility for a player of his size, the 7-foot-4 22-year-old is a nightmare for offensive players. This year, Wembanyama is averaging 3.1 blocks and a steal per game, while altering or preventing countless shots as well.

Wembanyama has even given the reigning champion Oklahoma City problems in San Antonio's five matchups against the Thunder, leading the Spurs to a 4-1 regular-season record against OKC.

The former No. 1 overall pick is the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year on multiple betting markets, with Chet Holmgren claiming the runner-up spot. While the two have been compared to each other throughout their high school and young NBA careers, Wembanyama's success has catepulted him into a different tier than Holmgren in the eyes of most observers.

Holmgren, a first-time All-Star in 2026, has also shown his defensive prowess this season, anchoring a stout Thunder defense that has helped Oklahoma City reach 62 wins with four contests remaining. The former No. 2 overall selection is averaging 1.9 blocks per game, which doesn't turn heads quite like Wembanyama's staggering count, but still impacts winning for the Thunder.

Additionally, Holmgren's ability to hold his own against smaller, quicker players on the perimeter and on drives, as well as his foot speed to close out on shooters, compliments the 23-year-old's rim protection skills. In a recent data set from BBall Index, Holmgren even graded out higher than Wembanyama as a post defender.

Chet vs Wemby in our interior defense numbers

Wemby has been the better helper, while Chet has been better defending in the post. pic.twitter.com/WhCia2hNam
— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) April 5, 2026

Holmgren is in a much higher percentile as a post defender, and narrowly beats out Wembanyama in rim disruption and rim protection, according to BBall Index. Wembanyama holds the advantage in help defense talent, rim deterrence, screener mobile defense and screener rim defense.

Holmgren's defense was on display during the NBA Finals last year, as well, when the 7-footer notched a league record for blocks in Game 7 of a title series.

In the end, the aforementioned advanced statistics indicate that Wembanyama and Holmgren are two of the best defensive players in the NBA, which is reflected in this year's award odds. Still both early in their professional careers, the other players around the league will have to deal with a pair of elite rim protectors for years to come.