Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is making his return to the hardwood. The last time the All-Star played in a game was January 9th. It was the night Klay Thompson made his return.

Before Green suffered his injury, he was the clear favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Now 29 games later, Green believes he can still take home the honor.

“I probably missed about 32 games in that stretch,” Green told ClutchPoints. “In those 32 games, I don't know what league everybody else been watching, but I have not seen anyone solidify themselves as the Defensive Player of the Year.”

There are six candidates ahead of Draymond Green for the award, and they've all missed games this season besides Mikal Bridges. Rudy Gobert missed 14, Bam Adebayo 25, Giannis Antetokounmpo 11, Jaren Jackson Jr. one and Robert Williams III 13.

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“When I look around the league Mikal Bridges has been really good defensively, and Jaren Jackson has picked it up defensively,” Green said. “But, I don't think anyone has solidified themselves. I think we can all agree through 32 games it was already solidified. So yeah, I think I can win.”

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On Monday night, Green gets the opportunity to continue his defensive dominance. The Warriors face the Washington Wizards inside the Chase Center. Golden State is on a three-game winning streak, and they hope adding Green to the lineup will help them push that streak to four.

The Warriors are 46-22 heading into the Wizards game, and they are half a game behind the Memphis Grizzlies for second place in the Western Conference.