In the final months of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, a new name entered the race for the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Golden State Warriors' veteran forward Draymond Green was not mentioned in the first half of the season as a DPOY candidate. But following the Jimmy Butler trade and the Warriors' surge in the standings, Green started to be mentioned as a potential candidate for the NBA's top defensive player.

On Sunday, the NBA released the names of the top three candidates for the DPOY Award which included Green, Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley. Should Green win the award this season, it will be his second time bringing home these honors. Green won his first and only DPOY award to this point during the 2016-17 season. The Warriors ended up winning the NBA title that year.

Among the Warriors' main rotation players this season and into the playoffs, Green holds the second best defensive rating on the team behind only Kevon Looney, as per StatMuse. Even as he's gotten older, Green still remains one of the Warriors' best defensive players. If he does not win the award, he's probably a lock for the All-Defensive First Team.

Throughout his career, Green has been named to four All-Defensive First Team selections and four All-Defensive Second Team selections.

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This season, Green has appeared in 68 games for the Warriors at a little over 29 minutes per game. He averaged 9.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 42.4 percent shooting from the field, 32.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 68.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Green holds career averages of 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shots. His career-high in steals was 2.0 during the 2016-17 season when he was named the Defensive Player of the Year. That season also tied a career-high in blocked shots at 1.4.

The Warriors open the 2025 NBA Playoffs on the road as the No. 7 seed against the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets. Green will likely be part of the Warriors' strategy to defend Rockets center All-Star center Alperen Sengun.