In a 2024-25 season that ultimately ended up falling short of expectations, Dyson Daniels absolutely blew away expectations when it came to his performance and impact across the 2024-25 season.
Daniels entered his third NBA season following the trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that saw Hawks abandon the Dejounte Murray/Trae Young project. Getting off of Murray’s deal was always going to be prove difficult to extract value proportionate to what the Hawks gave up to San Antonio to acquire Murray, but such was the level of Daniels that the Hawks have certainly emerged in a much stronger position than could have originally been conceived.
Daniels arrived to Atlanta with a defensive reputation, however with his offense regarded behind his highly rated defensive capabilities. Ultimately, Daniels exceeded expectations on both accounts. Playing in a much larger capacity with the Hawks than he did in New Orleans, Daniels emerged as one of the NBA’s premiere perimeter defenders, leading the league in steals per game and deflections per game, his defensive playmaking proving one of the more enjoyable aspects of the Hawks’ 24-25 season.
Offensively — again, in a larger role — Daniels showed improvements shooting the three-pointer but was also impressive getting to his floater in the lane, averaging 14.1 points per game on 49% shooting from the field and 34% from three for the season.
These marked improvements from the previous year on both sides of the ball may not have resulted in winning Defensive Player of the Year (finishing runner up to Cleveland’s Evan Mobley) but instead earned him the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team.
Daniels, still just aged 22, set such a high bar in his opening season that it begs the question: how will he follow it up in year 2?
When speaking to Inside the NBA following the announcement that he had won Most Improved Player award, Daniels detailed lofty ambitions he wishes to achieve going forward, believing that such was the level he believed he could still grow that he could win the award again.
“I really believe I could believe this award twice because I know I’ve got so much more left in me to show in this league and so much more improvement,” said Daniels. “It’s going to be about taking that next step next year and setting new goals. I want to be a championship player. I set the bar high to go out there and execute that now.”
So, what has Daniels worked on across the summer to make this leap? Firstly, Daniels noted that this one of the first undisrupted summers since joining the NBA, allowing him more time to work on his game. Offensively, Daniels says he has added to his overall offensive game in order to be able to generate offense from differing positions and situations, particularly in the mid-range.
“This summer was really fun for me because in my first two summers I had a World Cup and Olympics, so I didn’t really get time off just to work on my game,” said Daniels of his summer
during the Hawks’ media day. “This summer I was able to work with my trainer and work on my game. I was able to make improvements in a lot of areas of my game. I worked a lot on my mid-range game, being able to get to spots, different pickups, different footwork getting into shots — trying to develop that offensive bag. That’s been the main focus this summer. Defense is always going to be my backbone, that’s got me to where I am today.”
The mid-range was not an area that Daniels took a lot of shots in last season, as this chart below outlines:
I think it’s likely Daniels may have referred to making plays from the mid-range, perhaps on catch situations to pivot his way to get to the rim or make plays for others. I’d be a little surprised, especially in Quin Snyder’s system, if the progression was to step into more mid-range jumpers off of pick-and-roll. Let’s see.
As he alluded to, Daniels was true to his defensive identity and continued to work on this aspect on his game throughout the summer. Daniels spent a lot of time watching film and trying to improve his defense from a team defense perspective, in addition to his desire to be more of a vocal leader on defense and hold his teammates defensively accountable.
“I watched a lot of film,” said Daniels when asked about what defensive improvements he can make. “Something I’ve focused on is, ‘Where can we better team defensively, where can I help the team more?’ I can go out there and get steals and make plays like that, but when it comes down to getting a stop, we need to be in the right positions for each other, have each other’s back and rotate for each other. For me, I’m trying to see points where I can be better at help defense. Where should I rotate from? Should I not rotate there? Where can I hold my teammates accountable to rotate from? I want to be a leader on that end of the floor and be more vocal and tell people, ‘Hey, we’re not rotating from here, we need to come here, you need to fly around, you need to close out short here.‘ Just little things, on-ball defense, trying to fight through screens better, keep my matchup.
“We’ve got a good defensive group with ‘KP’ coming this year that can protect the rim. We’re going to change a few things on that end of the floor because we need to be a better team defensively, but it starts with having a leader on that end of the floor and being able to hold each other accountable.”
Despite averaging three steals a game and establishing himself as one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, Daniels believes there is still more growth to be had on the defensive end of the floor, centering in on his ability to read the game defensively and make quick decisions — those which are required when drawing charges.
“I still think I have so much more improvement on that end of the floor,” said Daniels. “I think I have the tools to do it all. The game moves fast and you’ve got to make quick decisions out there. In a half a second you have to choose whether you’re going up to contest or step in and take a charge — that’s something I want to do more of. There’s people who are elite at drawing fouls these last couple of years, I think one of my strengths is keeping people off the free throw line, not fouling people and contesting shots without fouling. Something I want to do better is draw more offensive calls, whether it’s taking a charge … still so much more improvement I have in me. It’s all about making quick decisions out there and making right decisions. I’m looking forward to the game slowing down more this season.”
A lot of pressure was put on Daniels last season. Being the Hawks’ strongest perimeter defender — very comfortably so following the season-ending injury to Jalen Johnson — Daniels had to not just absorb the pressure as the point of attack defender and but guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player. This expenditure of energy could be argued contributed to some, not too often, inefficient nights shooting the ball at times. It’s also just a lot of pressure to put on Daniels defensively: if he was beat, then the Hawks’ backline is called upon, potentially leading to a collapse in the defense.
Now, things are different. Not only is Johnson returning fully fit, but Daniels has another defensive-minded wing that can help share some of the defensive pressure and responsibility in Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
“Speaking specifically to some of our new guys, Nickeil gives us another player that’s capable of defending the point of attack, which is really important…”
said Hawks head coach Quin Snyder at media day.
The defensive potential of this new partnership was one that was referenced often during the Hawks’ media by multiple personnel, including Hawks GM Onsi Saleh, who spoke on the Friday prior to media day about the tantalising prospect of the two defensively.
“We’re super excited about him (Alexander-Walker), and pairing him with Dyson at times,”
said Saleh. “I think that’s going to be hell for some teams with those two guys out there, and ‘KP’ back there as well.”
Saleh spoke of the importance that defense is to championship contending teams, believing that the defensive additions that will undoubtedly bolster the Hawks’ defensive ranks alongside Johnson and Daniels certainly takes them a potential step closer to such an outcome.
“You have to be good defensively to be a contending team in this league,” said Saleh. “I don’t know how many teams have contended without being in the top-10 in the league in the last few years. We feel we’ve got a good group of dudes, and they’re going to get better at that too. Team defensively is a whole other concept … but individually we added a lot there in the size and athleticism in defense on the ball and off the ball to get us there.”
Having two elite defenders like Alexander-Walker and Daniels opens up many defensive possibilities for the Hawks, with Daniels himself just scratching the surface of what might be possible.
“…With Nickeil, we can switch things and pick up full-court and make things difficult,” said Daniels.
Alexander-Walker himself was strong in his conviction when asked if Daniels could push him to be a better defensive player.
“100%,” said
Alexander-Walker at media day. “At Dyson’s young age, we’ve seen what opportunity can do for him and how he flourished with that opportunity. For me, I could learn from anybody. With the success he’s had defensively, some of the instincts he has in terms of getting steals… I pride myself on just on-ball defense, getting stops and making things difficult. Dyson is able to turn people over at a high level and a high rate, that’s something I can definitely add to my game … the way he sees it, his approach to defense, I respect it.”
Quin Snyder was asked about the prospect of Daniels and Alexander-Walker playing together and referenced their ability to help the Hawks make plays defensively allowing the Hawks an opportunity to fuel their offense — an aspect of the game that Snyder believed the Hawks didn’t maximize last season. Snyder believes that both Daniels and Alexander-Walker are instrumental in the Hawks realizing this potential this season.
“I’m excited about that,” said Snyder of the combination of Alexander-Walker and Daniels together. “…Our ability to make plays, to create havoc, is tremendously important for us on the other end of the floor. I think that’s our style of play. Any team’s style of play should reflect their strengths and give you a chance to maximize your personnel. Part of maximizing Nickeil and Dyson, other guys, being able to make plays and take a one-on-one matchup, having an opportunity to make a team pay on the other end … we didn’t do a great job of converting last year, and we need to be better at that. That wasn’t pretty all the time, whether it was errant passes, or poor spacing. Over time, that’s something that you improve on and it’s important for us to improve on it. You don’t have as many opportunities to do that if you don’t have those guys, those on-ball defenders.”
Having Alexander-Walker next to Daniels will take some of that defensive pressure off of Daniels and this may help Daniels reach greater heights offensively with some of this pressure shared between himself and Alexander-Walker. One aspect where more may be expected from Daniels this season is handling the ball. When Johnson went down, Daniels ended up with the ball in his hands a little more, helping alleviate Trae Young when he went to the bench.
With no conventional back-up point guard this season — likely to be handled by committee by, not just Daniels, but Johnson, Luke Kennard, Alexander-Walker, Vit Krejci (if he’s in the rotation), perhaps a little from Zaccharie Risacher — Daniels is going to be one of the players who is going to be asked to help share ball-handling duties. Daniels was asked about this during the Hawks’ media day availability, and welcome the opportunity to help Young when he goes to the bench.
“I was a point guard growing up my whole career, that’s something I’ve always been,” said Daniels when asked about backup point guard. “Point guard is a lot about having feel for the game. You’re going to have point guards that have the best handles, that are scorers, passing point guards — there’s so many different aspects to it. When Trae goes off and to back up him, playing fast as a point guard and getting us into offense, being able to get downhill and create for everyone. Point guard doesn’t have to be the person that walks the ball up and gets us in the set … it’s just about knowing the game, knowing how the flow is going, knowing what the team needs at certain times.
“One of my strengths as a point guard is being able to play fast. We’ve got Jalen who can play fast, Zach, we’ve got athletic wings who can get out and run. At times when Trae is off the floor that’s where we can take advantage of being able to use that size and length ti play fast. Me knowing that I can play point guard and I’ve done that in the past, going into year four I’m feeling more comfortable at that position and know what to expect at that position. Being able to have coach trust that Trae can go off and someone is able to be disciplined and run that spot.”
Daniels averaged 4.4 assists last season, and his ability to initiate some offense/plays for the Hawks is going to be important again this season. He’ll have help in this regard, particularly with Jalen Johnson returning, but it is an important aspect of his season nevertheless.
Defensively, the league knows Daniels will be among its best and the Hawks can rely on this. The improvement many, including Daniels, will be wanting to see made is offensively. An expanded offensive game, which Daniels mentioned on media day was something he had worked on, is going to be useful, but if he’s able to increase his three-point efficiency (34% last season) and his free throw percentage (just 59% on 1.8 attempts); these would be big bonuses for the Hawks and for Daniels.
There are two particular areas of the court Daniels excels shooting the three, and the other side of the court lets his shooting percentage down massively:
The above-the-break three in particular was poor, even a small uptick there would boost Daniels’ overall three-point shooting to 35-36% and be a huge bonus for a player who plays the defense that he does.
To finish, one element that Daniels may have hanging over him this season is that he enters his fourth season in the NBA, and is right now heading towards restricted free agency, as the Hawks and Daniels’ representation have not currently agreed to an extension. Hawks GM Onsi Saleh was asked about this during his pre-media day availability, and while he did not answer specifics regarding negotiations, the Hawks’ feelings of Daniels and his long-term future were certainly conveyed.
“We love Dyson, I think Dyson is going to be here for a long time,” said Onsi Saleh. “He’s a big piece to what we’re doing here.”
If the two sides are unable to come to an agreement prior to the season, Daniels is not the sort of player who I think would be negatively impacted by not having an extension signed. Daniels carries himself beyond his 22 years of age (not turning 23 until March, well into the season) and is just not someone who is going to kick up a fuss over a contract during the season.
The ‘Great Barrier Thief’ has become a fan favorite in a short period of time. If the media day hype is to be believed, there’s even more in store from Daniels, as he and the Hawks — now equipped with more defensive options around them — look to consolidate themselves as a playoff force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference. The success of Dyson Daniels will play a part in just how high their ceiling is.
Time will shortly tell…
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