When the best defender of his generation tells you who the toughest to guard is, your ears perk up. Draymond Green is that guy. Green is a nine-time All-Defense member and won his lone Defensive Player of the Year in 2017. Close races happen all the time, using the word "robbery" feels wrong, but Green was snubbed in a major way in 2016. The Warriors were 73-9. Steph Curry was crowned the first unanimous MVP, and Steve Kerr collected Coach of the Year. It seems as if the media didn't want to give the Warriors every major award in the midst of their historic regular season.
Kawhi Leonard and Rudy Gobert have cases for the best defenders of the late 2010s- early 2020s, and both have more extensive defensive accolades (Leonard two-time DPOY, Gobert four-time), but neither provides the versatility Green does.
Green could match up with Nikola Jokić or Luka Dončić on a given night. Those drastically different players offer different looks that Green has to adjust to. There's a reason Green claims those two are some of the hardest covers in the league.
Draymond Green lets us see behind the curtain
On Kai Cenat's recent stream, Green gave the overseas dominators their praise. "The hardest now is Joker," Green spits out when discussing the most challenging player to defend today. Green acknowledges he isn't matched up with Dončić from the opening tap, but Luka gives him all he can handle when he switches onto the Slovenian guard.
Kevin Durant was briefly brought up when Green reflected on his whole career. Durant was an alien (still is) in his Thunder days. The scoring assassin won four scoring titles and consistently finished in the top five in points per game average. Durant's versatility, size, shotmaking, and efficiency make him a nightmare for opposing teams.
Green says he's figured out Durant these days. That's hard to believe, but Green did offer insight to a mystery player who apparently is a handful. "I don't want to give him that edge. He probably don't believe he has that edge, so I can't give him that edge," said Green of the mystery player.
My mind immediately jumped to one of Kevin Durant's new teammates — a young big who had put Draymond on a poster and had a coming-out party last season.
The mystery tough cover for Draymond Green
It's no secret that Alperen Şengün gave the Warriors all they could handle in their seven-game series last season. Şengün was one of the driving forces who extended that series. Şengün averaged 20 points, 11 boards, and five assists as a center. Green did hold his own as Şengün's efficiency was suspect, but he showed out in his first playoff series.
"TURKISH AIRLINES IS IN THE BUILDING," read one of the YouTube comments from this insane Game 1 poster from Şengün. There's no doubt that a play like this set the tone in the series, and Şengün showed his courage. He wasn't backing down from Green whatsoever.
I'm speculating that Green is referring to Şengün as his mystery tough cover player. I'd push back on the fact that Şengün "don't believe he has that edge." Şengün appears to be as confident as they come, and the work he's putting in EuroBasket shows that.
"I think Joel Embiid was the best player, best center I was playing with, but I think we can tell that it's Alperen now," Furkan Korkmaz stated. Whether you agree with Korkmaz or not, that is high praise stemming from Şengün's performances. He's fresh off a EuroBasket triple-double, and the defensive uptick is promising."
Şengün doesn't need more motivation from Green or anyone, for that matter. He's progressively getting better, and sooner or later, the whole NBA landscape will see how difficult it is to deal with him.