The Golden State Warriors’ move to acquire Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline has, quite literally, turned their season around. When they acquired Butler, the Warriors were at risk of falling out of play-in contention. However, with him on the roster, they have won 15 of their last 17 games. They look revitalized, and Butler has been the catalyst for that reaction. While he’s received all the praise he deserves for his offensive impact, his defensive chemistry with Draymond Green has made them unbeatable.
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The two defensive demons have vaulted the Dubs’ defensive rating to the best in the NBA since the trade. Green has always been a sensational defensive anchor with the Warriors, but his age was starting to show. He wasn’t as quick to react to picks, and his timing had been slowly getting worse.
With Jimmy by his side, Green looks like his DPOY-winning self again. His best performance came a couple of nights ago when he locked down Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Warriors’ huge home win. Green held the Bucks’ MVP to 0-6 from the field as his primary defender.
Low Williams and Chandler Parsons praised the Dubs’ defensive duo, and even suggested that they could be among the best in the league right now.
On Run It Back, Williams praised Green’s resurgence on the business end of the floor, and called Jimmy’s efforts on defense “instinctive.”
“You have two instinctive guys on the defensive end linking up and they’re making plays. Jimmy Butler just won the Warriors a game last night on defense,” he said.
Williams brought up how the duo has established an identity for the Warriors defensively. “For the Golden State Warriors, these two guys, they’ve created an identity for this team to move forward. And that helps everybody else fall in line to do what’s needed to be done on the defensive end for them.”
"Draymond Green is playing football out there a lot of the time. … You have two instinctive guys on the defensive end linking up and they're making plays. Jimmy Butler just won the Warriors a game last night on defense."
🗣️ @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/Qk8XHB9gUq
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 21, 2025
His co-host, Chandler Parsons, even boldly claimed that no other defensive duo in the league is as potent as them. Explaining how their understanding of the game allows them to effectively guard positions 1 through 5, the former Maverick added that he couldn’t think of 4 defensive duos better than them.
All of this must be music to Draymond Green’s years though, as he’s recently made it clear he has eyes on the one regular season prize he’s won before: DPOY.
Draymond Green wants his second DPOY award
Victor Wembanyama’s blood clot threw a spanner into the works of the one award that had seemingly been locked up even before the season started. Wemby was a runner-up for the DPOY in his rookie season last year, and it was the worst-kept secret in the NBA that he was the favorite to win this year.
However, after getting sidelined and not being able to play the minimum required games, the DPOY race has actually become somewhat interesting. While the Cavs’ Evan Mobley is now the new overwhelming favorite (at -175), Draymond Green has found himself in the mix.
Sure, he’s currently stated to be a +100 long shot to win it, but who knows? Draymond Green and the Warriors have 12 games on their schedule to make the case for his 2nd DPOY honors.
Green has, of course, made it no secret that he wants this. After a vintage defensive effort against the Bucks that saw Giannis scoreless when guarded by him, Green made a passionate plea to the media. “I want another one,” he said. “Especially with Wemby going down. It seemed like he had it won. Now it’s right there… One million percent I have a case and I’ll continue to build that case.”
Will he actually win the award? Most likely not. But Draymond Green knows that award or not, he really is one of the most valuable defenders in the NBA today and that his effort since Jimmy came in has been truly DPOY-esque.
