Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Tony Allen, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul comprise this year’s All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced via press release. Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Bogut, John Wall and Tim Duncan are on the second team. Bogut’s selection is perhaps most important, since he triggers a bonus worth 15% of his nearly $12.973MM salary for this season, giving him approximately $1.946MM in extra pay. It also means his cap hit for next season jumps to $13.8MM instead of $12MM, since the bonus will fall in the category of a likely bonus. Still, the extra $1.8MM wouldn’t count against the tax next season unless Bogut again plays in 65 games and makes an All-Defensive team.
Leonard was the leading vote-getter from the media members who cast the ballots, which is no surprise, since he also won the Defensive Player of the Year award. The latest honor is further ammunition for a max contract this summer from the Spurs, though it appears he and San Antonio were already set to quickly agree to terms on one come July. Green and Jordan are also soon-to-be free agents on the first team, while Butler and Duncan are heading to free agency from the second team.
Davis, who’s eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, topped the voting among second-teamers. The balloting went by a points system in which two points were awarded for a first team vote and one point for a second. Rudy Gobert, who received five first team votes, garnered the most points among those who missed the cut for both teams. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Klay Thompson, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley were others who garnered multiple first team votes but didn’t make it on either team. Click here to see how each media member voted.