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First thing first, Draymond Green is clearly a super unique player. It's definitely very difficult to find a direct comparison. But here's a question anyway. Who's the closest thing to Draymond Green? It can be an ex or current player.

* Great basketball IQ
* Great defender (one of the best help defender ever)
* Good playmaker
* Not a scorer
* Can't shoot

AK47 was just as good, maybe better defensively, and light years better on offense.

Silently one of the greatest defensive players of all time

jasonxxx102 wrote:AK47 was just as good, maybe better defensively, and light years better on offense.

Silently one of the greatest defensive players of all time

No, not just as good. AK47, at the end of the day, was disappointing. As talented as he was, he underperformed when it mattered. The antithesis of Dray, really.

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Joakim Noah is the first name that popped into my head, especially that one season where he received MVP talks.

Ricky Rubio aka RiRu the Spanish menace

Green's so unique so it would be hard to get a close comparison.
They aren't really the same style of player esthetically but in the height of his prime Andrei Kirilenko affected the game in so many ways. He was not the same assist-man as Green but he got really good at that during his best years in Utah and made very good decisions passing the ball in transition. He didn't need to be a point producer to have a huge affect on the game - although he was a better scorer than Green.

Really a fantastic player in his prime that made such a difference to winning basketball more then stats could indicate....and he was a stat stuffer at that across the board. There were so many paper all stars in that period of basketball when the modern fan just looked at ppg. AK47 was a beaut.

Marion ?

Ben simmons? Jo noah? his style is so tied to the modern game, its hard to find a historical comp. thats like looking for someone like al jefferson in todays game.

I always thought you'd get Draymond if you smushed Smart and Horford together.

wrecking bulls wrote:Joakim Noah is the first name that popped into my head, especially that one season where he received MVP talks.

Good mention.

In many ways, Adebayo.

Dennis Rodman?

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He's a poor man's version of Anthony Mason.

wrecking bulls wrote:Joakim Noah is the first name that popped into my head, especially that one season where he received MVP talks.

Noah is a good analog. Great passer, elite defensively especially at the rim but could also hold his own in space.
Draymond is blessed to play with 2 (maybe 3) of the greatest shooters of all time so his offensive limitations aren't as obviously. Noah never played with anyone as good as Curry

These comparisons show just how truly unique Draymond is

Ben Simmons is essentially a taller, more athletic Draymond talent wise.

CraftylikeaFox wrote:These comparisons show just how truly unique Draymond is

he is definitely unique but there have been a fair share of high IQ/low skill players that end up doing all the little things. like some have mentioned in the thread, AK, noah, rodman, etc.

i think "prime warriors iguodala" is like a wing version of green. pretty cool that they were on the same team.

PhilBlackson wrote:Ben Simmons is essentially a taller, more athletic Draymond talent wise.

With no willingness/ability to do half of the dirty work/team work that helps make Draymond so impactful.

Simmons has no interest in bumping with bigs. He's not a quality/impactful screener.

Oh and that whole degenerative back thing...

greg4012 wrote:

PhilBlackson wrote:Ben Simmons is essentially a taller, more athletic Draymond talent wise.

With no willingness/ability to do half of the dirty work/team work that helps make Draymond so impactful.

Simmons has no interest in bumping with bigs. He's not a quality/impactful screener.

Oh and that whole degenerative back thing...

he did say "talent wise".

whatisacenter wrote:

greg4012 wrote:

PhilBlackson wrote:Ben Simmons is essentially a taller, more athletic Draymond talent wise.

With no willingness/ability to do half of the dirty work/team work that helps make Draymond so impactful.

Simmons has no interest in bumping with bigs. He's not a quality/impactful screener.

Oh and that whole degenerative back thing...

he did say "talent wise".

I think talent encompasses a lot more than most seem to attribute to it.

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