The Phoenix Suns, by an almost a minuscule margin, had the third best defense in the regular season of last year but they could've been first. A united effort from 2K23 MT the entire team is essential to sustain this level of excellence over more than 82 games. Fourth year forward Mikal Bridges played an essential part in that. He was not only a part of all 82 games but it was also a highly influential defender on the team.
However, this isn't reflected in his overall or perimeter defense rating. His overall rating didn't rise from 2K22 and stayed at 83. In addition, his perimeter defense score is an 82 (A-minus) that is 2nd on the team behind Chris Paul's 90. If he was a second-place finisher in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year the two ratings should be higher.
Moving to one of the underrated players in the NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams is next on the list for two different reasons. One is the perimeter defense where the 27 year-old has established the name for himself in Oklahoma. He's adamant, difficult to beat at the point of attack and is a formidable player in one-on-one scenarios and is just generally much better than he gets credit for. He's in the ninth spot on the team's the defense of the perimeter behind players like Ty Jerome and Aleksej Poku?evski this shouldn't be the case.
On the other hand Williams is the 5th-highest 3-point rating on the team even though he was ranked 10th in 3-point percentage this season at 33.9% . 0.8 per game. Williams's stats aren't entirely accurate, however, his 75 overall marks a decent starting point (even though it should not be 75. but 77).
Russell Westbrook's homecoming with his team the Los Angeles Lakers did not run as planned. He started 2K22 with an total of 86 but then slowly fell in his performance after an uncharacteristic slump throughout the season. He was the league's MVP before that, and is currently 78 overall, which is the third highest on the team and the point at which he finished on 2K22. It's unlikely to be argued that he's the same player he was in Buy NBA 2K23 MT Safe 2016but it's fairly unfair to lower him to an average of 78 in a single season. His shot IQ is 25 which is the lowest in the game however it's not a huge surprise.