Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green recently made the case why he thinks he should be the Defensive Player of the Year, but the sportsbooks don’t agree.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was widely expected to collect the award in a landslide but after suffering a blood clot in his shoulder and being ruled out for the rest of the season, he’ll fall short of the 65-game threshold to be eligible.

In turn, Green believes he should be the frontrunner to win Defensive Player of the Year in Wemby’s absence. After limiting Giannis Antetokounmpo to 20 points in Golden State’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, he put his hat in the ring.

Giannis was scoreless (0-6 FG) when guarded by Green at the Chase Center. According to ESPN research, that’s the Greek Freak’s worst shooting game in the past two seasons and Milwaukee’s 93 points was a season low.

The 35-year-old won the award in 2017 and led the league in steals that same year. He’s also been named to eight All-Defensive teams across his career (4x First Team, 4x Second Team).

There’s no doubting his immense presence on the defensive end of the court but despite Green’s confidence, he looks set to collect a silver medal.

Who is the Defensive Player of the Year favorite?

That would be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley, priced at -300 to win Defensive Player of the Year with the best online sportsbooks.

Mobley, 23, earned his first All-Star selection earlier this year and is no stranger to the DPOY conversation after a third-place finish in 2023 where he was also named to the All-Defensive First Team.

Last month, he became the first player in league history to win two Defensive Player of the Month awards.

Mobley is one of two players alongside Wemby to record at least 400 defensive rebounds and 90 blocks this season.

WATCH: Evan Mobley’s defensive highlights from February 2024

The Eastern Conference @Kia Defensive Player of the Month for February is Evan Mobley! #KiaDPOTM pic.twitter.com/jBmwjVNhDc

— NBA (@NBA) March 4, 2025

Does Draymond Green have a case to win DPOY?

Some of the advanced stats do speak in his favor. Among the top-five DPOY candidates (Mobley, Green, Dyson Daniels, Jaren Jackson Jr and Lu Dort) – the Warriors forward ranks first in:

• D-EPM
• D-LEBRON
• D-DPM
• DBPM

However, he doesn’t rank among the top 20 in the league in general defensive categories like steals or blocks, averaging 1.4 and 1.1 per game respectively.

Green is one of only seven players averaging at least a block and a steal per game in the NBA.