Indiana Pacers: Who will challenge Myles Turner for DPOY?

Chris Boucher, Toronto Raptors

A name that many in the NBA have gotten familiar with lately, especially Pacers fans, is Toronto big man Chris Boucher. As he continues to grow into a larger role for the Raptors, Boucher can become a defensive anchor similar to Turner.

In 17 games for the Raptors this season, Boucher is averaging 2.2 blocks and 0.6 steals. The craziest part is that he’s doing it off the bench while playing just 23.7 minutes per game. His ability to prevent shots at the rim, mostly thanks to his long arms, has made scoring in the paint difficult.

If we observe his numbers, along with Turner’s, based on playing time, Boucher is not all that far behind Turner and is only getting better. Per 36 minutes, Boucher is racking up 1.0 steals and 3.4 blocks, compared to 1.5 steals and 4.5 blocks for Turner.

Toronto is a top-10 defensive unit in the NBA right now, allowing just 109.5 points per game on a league-best 84.5 field goal attempts per game. Boucher may be a bit of a distant competitor for the DPOY this year, but there is no doubt in my mind that he can reach that level very, very soon.

If he continues to play at this level and cracks the starting lineup at any point for the Raps, then I think Boucher will enter the conversation for DPOY before the season ends.

With all respect to the guys mentioned above, though, Myles Turner is the runaway favorite for DPOY right now if you ask me. What he does for the Pacers cannot be underestimated as we enter the middle of the season.