Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is stating his case for Defensive Player of the Year. The 34-year-old has finished in the top 10 of voting for the award four times in the last seven years, and won the honor during the 2016-17 season. But after a 104-93 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, Green is vocalizing that he feels it should be his again after this season.
“I look around the league and don’t see many players impacting the game on the defensive end the way I do,” Green said. “I don’t see many players completely throwing off an entire team’s offense the way I do. One thousand percent.
“Especially with [Victor Wembanyama] going down, seemed like he had it won. And now it is right there. So one million percent I have a case, and I will continue to build that case for these next 13 games. Tonight was a prime example of that.”
Tuesday night’s performance could certainly serve as the “prime example” of what Green brings on the defensive side of the ball. In a game where the Warriors were without Stephen Curry, you could make the assumption that Golden State was going to pick up a loss against a fully healthy Bucks team. However, Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski and Buddy Hield stepped up on the offensive end to account for Curry’s loss. But none of that would’ve mattered had it not been for Green’s defensive performance against Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Green served as the primary defender against Antetokounmpo, and held him to 0 of 7 from the floor. On Milwaukee’s very first possession of the game Green set the tone for how the rest of the game was going to go for Antetokounmpo.
Plays that would usually end in Antetokounmpo steamrolling past his defender to the rim resulted in Green disrupting the play just enough to force a turnover or tie Antetokounmpo up to not even get a shot off.
We truly just don’t see this happening very often to Giannis, who typically has his way with whoever is standing between him and the rim.
It just speaks to the impact Green is still having on the Warriors defense, even as he’s getting more gray in his beard. The Warriors’ defense is still reliant upon Green’s talents, and it’s in large part thanks to him that Golden State has the seventh-ranked defense in the league. The impact may not be as staggering as in years past, but the Warriors still allow nearly three more points per 100 possessions when Green is on the bench vs. when he plays. He defends the most shots of anyone else on the team at 14.3 a game, and his defended field goal percentage of 42.5% ranks fifth in the entire league (min. 12 DFA/G, min. 50 games played).
“Draymond, that defense tonight on Giannis was incredible,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the win. “To hold him to five field goals, Draymond showed why he is still one of the great defenders in the world. It wasn’t just the defense; it was the leadership, the energy.”
Antetokounmpo finished 5 of 16 from the floor for 20 points, subpar numbers for guy who is averaging 30.2 points a night on nearly 60% from the floor. Green may not have the typical defensive counting stats of someone like a Wembanyama or reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who do most of their damage by being elite rim protectors, but Green is perhaps the most versatile defender in the league still. He can still guard 1 through 5, and what he lacks in size on guarding centers, he makes up for in strength and IQ.
Winning the award is going to be a tall task, as Evan Mobley, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dyson Daniels are just a few of the other names worthy of having their name inscribed on the trophy. But Green certainly deserves to be in the conversation. He had the second-shortest odds (at +300) behind Mobley as of Wednesday.
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