The Definitive NBA Wing Defender Rankings
The wing defender has become one of the most important positions in the NBA due to the fact talented defenders can switch between 1–4 and can facilitate a strong defensive scheme. Talented wing defenders can lock down the best scorer on the other team and stop their opponents dead in their tracks. However, the wing defender is often over-looked due to the fact defence is not particularly flashy compared to the offensive part of the game and therefore not many writers will consider wing defence as an important factor of the game.
Shooting Guards
3rd: Klay Thompson
Klay Thompson has always been known as a shooter who score from the three-point line with an ease that has not been seen before. Only Ray Allen and Reggie Miller made three-point shooting look as easy as Klay Thompson does. However, Klay has managed to develop himself into being a high-quality wing defender that could potentially deal with positions 1–4. Klay Thompson is a talented wing defender due to the fact he has a fairly good wingspan for a shooting guard and therefore can contest shots much more easily than a comparable defensive guard like Avery Bradley.
Furthermore, Klay’s strength is in his ability on switches. The need for players to be able to work through defensive mismatches has become paramount in today’s game especially with the use of the spread pick and roll which is designed to try and create easy shots for an offence. Klay has very good footwork which means that he can stay ahead of much smaller players such as Kyrie Irving who can get buckets from basically anywhere on the court. Moreover, Thompson has the strength and physical attributes to stay in front of forwards such as Giannis Antetokounmpo who have a height and length advantage on Klay Thompson. His physical attributes include being 6ft 7in and a 6ft 9in wingspan which means that he can contest shots that have been launched by much taller players such as LeBron James.
2nd: Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler is a world-class player and has been for the last three years at the very least. In terms of versatility, Jimmy Butler is unique in being a ‘five-threat’. He has a multi-faceted game that allows him to impact every single game and gives the previously very poor Timberwolves a fighting chance in every single game. Butler has formed his NBA career off his defence, skills that he originally learned at Marquette under Coach Buzz Williams. For Tomball High School, he was much more of a scorer but as soon as he touched down in Milwaukee, Coach Williams began to mould an adept defender. Butler has an insane motor even for well-conditionted professional skills and can simply chase the ball all over the courts while most players will run out of gas and allow easy buckets to be scored. When this is coupled with the relentlessness that Butler shows on the court, it is a formidable combination.
It is telling that the Timberwolves are a team with a top-five defensive rating while Butler is on the court compared to when Jimmy Butler is on the bench. When Thibodeau gives his prized star a breather, Minnesota’s defence craters to having a bottom-five defensive rating when compared to all other teams. This is just ahead of tank race leaders such as the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns. The analytics show the Butler is an important key for the Timberwolves but they do not convey his leadership ability in terms of commanding the dynamic Wiggins and Towns combo to effectively defend opposition players.
It is well known that Tom Thibodeau is a defensive general that does not tolerate failure or any deviance from his plans. However, Thibs is a coach and it is very difficult to control the on-court action from his position on the sidelines, especially when it is considered that players will operate on instinct during clutch situations. Jimmy Butler is important in providing a veteran voice who can players into the correct defensive scheme time and time again during in-game situations which has a two-edged purpose. It means that younger players such as Tyus Jones and Towns get invaluable experience on being effective in clutch situations while also reducing his individual workload. For these reasons, it is arguable that Jimmy Butler is the second best shooting guard in the league in terms of his defensive ability.
1st: Andre Roberson
When Andre Roberson is compared to the other players on this list, it seems laughable that a player who cannot score to save his life is considered to be the premier wing talent from the shooting guard position. However, Roberson has an innate instinct for defensive which means that he is better than Jimmy Butler or Klay Thompson in that aspect of the game. It is arguable that Roberson is the second most important player on the Thunder as they are presently constructed as his defense forms the basis of the team’s defensive scheme.
Andre Roberson will pressure and pester the opposing team’s primary scoring option to no end. He slips through screens and forces the other team to take low-percentage options such as highly contested shots or ill-judged passes. Andre Roberson has a defensive real plus/minus of 4.46 per 100 possessions. This effect is much higher than Butler’s DRPM of 2.22 per 100 possessions. On the court it is clear to see Roberson’s impact, it allows Paul George to roam around like a free safety and get steals or deflections. The wing tandem means that offensive possessions for the other team are much more difficult as there are two lengthy players who will consistently hound the ball and capitalise on every single mistake.
Moreover, Andre Roberson is the best defensive shooting guard due to his level of versatility which largely stems from his basketball brain and on-court awareness. Some players such as Russell Westbrook are fantastic individual defenders when they are engaged but they have zero situational awareness and will often get trapped on screens. With Andre, this never happens he knows where the screens and picks are instinctively and using this feel for the game he corrals the opponent away from their preferred shooting sweet spots. For example for players such as Giannis, he will prevent Giannis from driving inside and keep him on the outside where the ‘Greek Freak’ is a terrible shooter.
For these reasons, Andre Roberson is the best defender from the shooting guard position as he makes other players on his team much better in terms of defending. Russell Westbrook is not a good on-ball defender but Roberson’s help allows Westbrook to poke around for steals without the fear the opponent will drive past Westbrook and score easy buckets. Jimmy Butler is a strong second choice as he is a leader for the Timberwolves on both ends of the floor but it could be argued that Butler’s situation means that he is №2 defender. Thibs’ strategy of running his starters into the ground means that Butler is hugely fatigued and cannot continue to operate at the same level.
Small Forwards:
3rd: Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant has transformed his game on the defensive game over this past off-season and has become a fearsome defender. In many ways. Kevin Durant is very similar to LeBron James in 2013, in his ability to take over on both ends of the game. For Durant, there is blending of his offensive and defensive game which means that they flow into each other. A good example of this is KDTrey’s rim protection as he plays the Centre position during the ‘Lineup of Death’ variation of the Warriors. Durant is smart in using his feet and wingspan to stop the opponent’s from getting near the rim for layups and therefore having to resort to more difficult finishes such as floaters. In many case, it is a successful defensive possession for the Warriors and KD gets the ball down the court and the Warriors get an easy look from the 3Pt line.
Durant has also developed another aspect of his defensive game, the ability to contest shots effectively and block shots on a regular basis. Durant’s long limbs have always been incredibly useful on the offensive end in terms of making his shot completely unguardable but in terms of defense he is now utilising his wingspan to restrict a shooter’s airspace. KD has averaged 1.9 blocks for this season which obviously means that in individual situations, he has become an adept on-ball defender but a block also has intangible effects that cannot be measured in statistics. Much like a dunk, a block fires the team up and there is greater commitment to defence by all team members.
2nd: Paul George
Paul George has been a high-level defender since he entered the NBA and has the distinction on being one of the only players who has managed to defend LeBron James man to man. However, Paul George should not just been defined for his ability to stay with the greatest player in the NBA, his distinction is his supreme defensive ability. Paul George can feasibly defend between positions 1–5 and will lock the opposing teams best option, in the most recent Thunder vs Warriors, George effectively defended every single player on the Warriors on switches. There were no defensive possessions in which Paul George was a vulnerability, he was more than able to hold his own against Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Paul George’s greatest ability is his active hands.
Paul George leads the league in steals from the forward positions and stops opponent’s dead by taking the ball and getting down the court for an easy dunk or layup. In effect, it is a four point swing in the game, the points George’s opponents could have gained and the points he has just scored. It is devastating defense that flows into the offense and creates a rhythm for the Thunder which is undeniable. George’s active hands have been enhanced this year by the presence of Andre Roberson, it means that he has more energy for individual assignments on the defensive and play lock-down defense. As a defensive tandem George and Roberson are probably the best wing combination in the league.
1st: Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard is an unbelievable defender but it is difficult to point to one particular aspect of his game due to the fact Leonard has a layered defensive game that is incredibly well-rounded. Kawhi is a great perimeter defender as he uses his lanky frame and lateral quickness to contest every single shot and prevent opponents from getting an easy time. The outstanding feature about Kawhi Leonard is his character and traits which means that he is premier wing defender in the league. Kawhi has an analytical mind and has been previously compared to a cyborg due to the fact he is able to see offensive possessions formulating and then use his skills to stop the opponent. Leonard has an uncanny knack to place himself in the right position to make an opponent’s life much harder, some of this has come from intensive research on the tendencies of opposing players but some of his defence is just instinctive.
Moreover, Leonard has a maturity that is uncommon amongst most high-profile NBA players. Most NBA players want to be ‘The Guy’, the player who will lead their team into the promise land and will get the majority of the credit for being the best player on a winning team. It is not greedy or selfish for a player to want to be the best, it is necessary to survive in a brutal industry like the NBA however Kawhi does not care about being ‘The Guy’ or personal plaudits, he just cares about winning games. Leonard prioritises winning games over anything else and it is clear in his play style, if a team member such as Pau Gasol is having a poor game on the defensive game Kawhi picks up the slack.
Kawhi is the best defender compared to all other small forwards and is possibly the best Wing overall due to his mindset and attitude towards the game. He does not expect thanks and his innate feel for defence sets him in a class of his own.
