https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Draymond-Green-as-an-MVP-candidate-Jazz-coach-16742496.php

SALT LAKE CITY — On a national level this season, Stephen Curry has been the only Warriors player to gain significant traction in the NBA MVP discussion.

Jazz head coach Quin Snyder believes that should change. Before Saturday night’s Warriors-Jazz game at Vivint Arena, Snyder lobbied for Warriors forward Draymond Green to receive some attention in the MVP conversation..

“I don’t think I have to qualify this by saying no disrespect to Steph or to Rudy (Gobert), but Draymond Green is as unique of a player and is having as good of a year, I think,” Snyder said. “If you want to put someone in the MVP conversation, he’s someone. … Maybe the numbers don’t match up to some of the numbers that other guys put up.

“But as far as the way that he impacts the game, whether it’s his passing, his defense — which you obviously know how we feel about Rudy’s versatility and the things that he does — Draymond’s like that, he just does it his way. Then you add the leadership that he shows and the way that he communicates; he’s an unbelievable player.”

Green is a front-runner for his second career Defensive Player of the Year award, but this was perhaps the first time an NBA head coach had touted him as a potential candidate for the league’s top individual honor. Most pundits are bound to list a slew of names in the MVP conversation before getting to Green’s.

NBA.com’s most recent MVP Ladder, for example, mentions 15 players — including Curry (No. 3 behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant) — as MVP possibilities. Green isn’t one of them.

But if the MVP award is supposed to recognize the player who most affects winning, Green might deserve some consideration. This is someone who, in addition to anchoring the NBA’s top defense, ranks eighth in the NBA with 7.5 assists per game. His ability to see plays before they unfold and deliver passes at the right spot has been a driving force behind Curry’s own MVP candidacy.

In Green’s 950 minutes this season, the Warriors have outscored their opponents by a combined 188 points. Anyone who watched Golden State slog through an 89-86 loss to the Nuggets without him Tuesday should understand how important he is to the team’s free-flowing system.

Snyder certainly does.

“He’s shown it before,” Snyder said of Green’s value, “but it stands out so much right now when you watch them play.”

Green, who has missed the Warriors’ past two games, could get cleared from the league’s health and safety protocols in time for Monday night’s matchup against the Heat at Chase Center.