Despite being 35 years old, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors is still regarded as one of the best defenders in the NBA. Although he isn’t a favorite to win the award, Green is considered to be a solid contender in the 2024-25 NBA season. However, one former NBA player doesn’t have the four-time champion as his pick to win this year.
Former Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen knows a thing or two about defense. During his time, he was one of the most intense perimeter defenders, causing problems against All-Stars. According to Allen, he believes Green is doing a great job defensively this year. However, he named a different player to win the defensive award.
Allen named Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks as his choice to win the award. The 6-foot-4 guard talked about it during his appearance at FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Monday.
“Dray is my boy and he locks stuff up,” Allen said. “He does a lot of stuff on the court, man. … He gets everybody in the right place, being on the backside of that defense. But I wouldn’t have him as my favorite.
“My favorite is the guy from Atlanta. I like how Dyson is all over the court, man. He’s in the passing lanes. I’ve been watching him; when bigs get that ball in that mid-post and they turn their heads, he sprints from that corner and rips [the ball] from behind. I like his game, man. And he’s up for the challenge.”
Tony Allen picks Dyson Daniels, not Draymond Green, for DPOY 👀
"Dray is my boy and he locks stuff up…but I wouldn't have him as my favorite. My favorite is the guy from Atlanta."@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons | @aa000G9 pic.twitter.com/8FvHDECq6y
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 24, 2025
Being a backcourt player, Allen admitted he has a bias for Daniels.
“You know me, I’m always going to be in favor of the guards,” Allen said. “But Draymond, you know he’s going to politic himself, you know he’s got to put himself in [the conversation].”
Former NBA player thinks Green could’ve been an elite scorer if he wasn’t with the Golden State Warriors
Throughout his entire career, Green was primarily known for his defensive tenacity. Although he’d had moments of excellent scoring performances, that wasn’t his role in the team. Recently, former NBA player Chandler Parsons said the defensive forward would’ve been a great scorer if he didn’t play for the Golden State Warriors.
“There’s more potential for him to score more,” said Parsons. “But it’s not why he’s going to the Hall of Fame. He’s going to the Hall of Fame for winning games, for doing other things, and being a great defender; scoring is just a cherry on top of Draymond Green.”
"If Draymond Green would've went to Charlotte or Washington early in his career, he probably could've averaged 20, 22 points a game."
– Chandler Parsons
(🎥 @RunItBackFDTV )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 21, 2025
Green isn’t the Warriors’ leading scorer, but he’s still a crucial part of their success. Without him, Golden State would not have won four titles during Stephen Curry’s tenure.
For other sports-related content:
Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at reignamuraonba@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
