NBA top 100 defender rankings (100-11): Where do Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Victor Wembanyama land on list?

Defense composes half of the game, yet it rarely gets its due within the discourse of the NBA.

The Defensive Player of the Year award names the league's best defender. All-Defensive Teams dole out recognition to 10 players in the league. And we know who the very worst defenders in the league are. But for the other 500-plus players in the league that logged minutes last season, defensive ability is barely discussed or analyzed.

I'm looking to change that with my first-ever attempt at a top 100 defenders list. This list is not going to be perfect, but it is going to be better than anything else out there. Most importantly, it will hopefully move the conversation forward, giving good defenders the credit that they deserve and sparking some closer scrutiny to a woefully underappreciated part of the game.

Before diving in, a little bit about how the list was made...

Ten percent of the ranking was determined by defensive DARKO, a predictive metric which was named the best in a survey of NBA insiders. Another 10 percent of the ranking was taken from voting results for Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive Teams.

The other 80 percent was determined by my subjective eye test. I am a firm believer that there is no better substitute for evaluating defense than watching extremely closely, taking note of a team's defensive scheme and how well a player performs in it. This list is thus a ranking of how strong a defender I expect a player to be on his given team next season.

This list also tried to balance out positions so as not to have too heavy of a bias toward big men, who are generally the most impactful defensive players in the game. Of the 100 players ranked, 30 are bigs, 43 are wings and 28 are guards.

Part I of this story will run from No. 11 to No. 100. Part II, to be released later, will cover the top 10.

NBA POSITIONAL RANKINGS: PG | SG | SF | PF | C

The 100 best defenders in the NBA: 11-100

Top 11-25 defenders

Rudy Gobert and Kawhi Leonard were two of the harder players to rank.

Gobert had an off year in a new system in Minnesota. How much of that is permanent? He's still projected to be the best defender in the league by defensive DARKO.

Leonard held that claim for a number of years, but his regular season defense has fallen off because of age and injury. We haven't seen him at his best in the biggest moments in a long time.

There are a number of players in this range that have been so good for so long that we all know how talented they are on that end of the floor. O.G. Anunoby, Matisse Thybulle, Derrick White, Marcus Smart, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Ben Simmons have a combined 17 All-Defensive Team selections. You can quibble with the order, but they deserve to be in the top 25.

Nic Claxton, Herb Jones, Walker Kessler and Jaden McDaniels are less widely recognized, although they have all received votes for All-Defensive Teams in the past. They are the most likely players to make a leap next season.

Dennis Smith Jr. was one of the best untold stories in the league last season, finding a way back into the NBA by becoming a tenacious point-of-attack defender. It was an impressive transformation for a player who was criticized for his defensive indifference when he was drafted ninth overall in 2017.

Top 26-50 defenders

There are some fantastic rim protectors in this next group. Jarrett Allen, Robert Williams III and Myles Turner are all block machines.

Victor Wembanyama might be the best defensive prospect in basketball history. Despite standing around 7-3, he projects to hold his own on the perimeter and block 3-point attempts. The towering teenager is already an elite rim protector who erases shots with punctual rotations and unbelievable ground coverage.

— Wembanyama analysis via Spurs insider Noah Magaro-George

Dillon Brooks and Mikal Bridges provided two cases of the eye test differing substantially from what DARKO suggests their defensive impact is on the court. Both are great at making flashy stops in isolation, but there is something that the eye test may be missing there. They fall down the rankings because of their mediocre statistical impact.

There's a sub-class of super-athletic forwards in this group.

Aaron Gordon is coming off a championship run in which he did everything defensively for the Nuggets, guarding the best players in the league. Jonathan Isaac came right in after a lengthy hiatus from injury and instantly started playing high-level defense again. Jarred Vanderbilt's role as a defensive specialist who was willing to guard Stephen Curry for 94 feet helped the Lakers get past the Warriors in the playoffs.

Top 51-75 defenders

Lu Dort and Davion Mitchell are two additional extreme cases of the eye test vs. DARKO. I had both lockdown perimeter defenders higher than this range based on eye test, but their short height may limit their overall defensive impact.

The same applies to Jevon Carter and Jose Alvarado to a lesser extent. All four are elite at harassing other guards at the point of attack.

Robert Covington is on the other end of the statistical spectrum. He wasn't able to earn consistent playing time for the Clippers, but he has been one of the most impactful defenders by numerous metrics for years. He is a deflections machine and has great size and length on the wing.

Deni Avdija did get minutes, but not many people were watching the Wizards. He was the best wing defender on their roster, holding up well while guarding the toughest assignments.

Cody Martin is generally regarded as the better defender between the twins, but Caleb Martin got the higher bump after their DARKO scores were incorporated.

Jayson Tatum might have the most defensive talent of any of the players in this group, but his massive offensive load prevents him from reaching his peak as a defender.

There isn't much data yet on Chet Holmgren after he missed his entire rookie year with a foot injury. Based on his draft profile and summer league performances, he should step in and offer great rim protection in his rookie year.

Top 76-100 defenders

Nikola Jokic has long been labeled a poor defender, but he has ranked very strongly in various advanced statistics over the years. He showed in the Nuggets' championship run that he can be a positive defender with his size, feel and extremely active hands. He's pioneered the somewhat controversial strategy of kicking the ball as well to force teams to reset their offense.

Anthony Edwards has looked poised to take a leap offensively. He's made huge strides defensively, too. He's a great on-ball defender when he is locked in, and he has amazing tools to shut the best scorers down one-on-one. While he can still have lapses away from the ball, his defensive performance on Brandon Ingram last season is worth checking out.

There are plenty of promising young players in this group that could move up the list.

Josh Green was the Mavericks' best on-ball perimeter defender last season, and he's grown leaps and bounds in his help positioning. Ayo Dosunmu is an on-ball menace who is willing to press up on players to make them uncomfortable. 

Patrick Williams has quietly developed into an extremely solid wing defender. And if Christian Koloko can get more consistent minutes by developing into a better offensive player, he can show the world how good he already is as a rim protector.

Devin Vassell has shown special ball-hawking abilities as a team defender, but his impact slipped as the Spurs asked him to shoulder immense offensive responsibilities. Filling out his frame has helped him steadily improve as a man-to-man stopper.

— Vassell analysis via Magaro-George

MORE: Part 2 of the top 100 defenders, covering 1-10