Do OKC Thunder Have Two of Top 5 NBA Defenders?

It is the dog days of summer in the NBA. The only thing left to discuss is meaningless rankings and tiers. It is too early to begin previewing the 2025-26 season and the 2024-25 season has been recounted plenty of times.

This month's only storyline –– the League's schedule release –– hasn't happened yet. It leaves everyone in no man's land when it comes to NBA coverage.

During a segment on ESPN's flagship NBA show, NBA Today, former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins listed off his top five defenders in the NBA.

Kendrick Perkins Top 5 NBA Defenders

• Alex Caruso
• Evan Mobley
• Amen Thompson
• Victor Wembanyama
• Lu Dort

This is a list clearly full of great defenders and to have complaints with this list would be unfair without saying who should be bumped out. The non-Thunder players on this roster make a ton of sense; it is hard to argue that Mobley, Wembanyama and Thompson do not belong in the top five among their peers.

However, if you are willing to take the leap with Wembanyama on a small sample size, the same can be true of Holmgren, who has done it on a bigger stage at a more important position as the team's rim defender.

Perhaps one of the Thunder guards should be bumped in place of Holmgren but it is clear Oklahoma City deserves to be all over this ranking as the Thunder turned in a historically great defensive unit a season ago and seems poised to do the same this year.

Though all things considered, while you can pick at what number is assigned to which player, these are the top five names you think of when discussing the best defenders in the NBA. Perhaps Holmgren should sneak on the list, but ultimately the former NBA player got it right –– one of his rare quality lists.

After the postseason Caruso had, scaling up to defend the likes of Nikola Jokic in a pivotal Game 7 and shutting down scoring options, it is hard to discount the two-time All-Defensive member as the league's best.

At least two of Holmgren, Dort and Caruso deserve a top five spot and there should be no complaints over Perkins' big list.

There are plenty of questionable rankings, lists and clearly made-for-clicks content floating around in the month of August, but this is not one of them. The Thunder rightfully have two players in the Top five on that side of the floor.