A full-time starter for the first time in his career, Dyson Daniels is one of the most intriguing bundles of potential on Atlanta’s roster in 2024-25.
When the Atlanta Hawks acquired Dyson Daniels to be their starting ‘2’ guard over the summer, they knew that there would be some inherent risk involved in asking a 21-year-old with a shaky jump shot, who had averaged just 20 minutes a game off the bench in his first two NBA seasons, to step into such a significant role for a team who will consider anything less than a first round playoff appearance a disappointment this season.
Daniels was being asked to replace Dejounte Murray, Atlanta’s second-leading scorer from last season, but with career ‘per 36 minute’ averages of 8.7 points (on humble 44/31/65 shooting splits), 6.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.9 steals, it was difficult to say any level of certainty that the Hawks would indeed be better off after the trade.
Well it’s only been four preseason games and one regular season game*, but it appears that Daniels is going to be just fine in his new role, and if he can sustain (maybe even improve on?) this level of play over the course of the entire season, the Hawks are going to have a really special, impactful player on their hands.
*against a Brooklyn Nets team who would consider anything less than a top-five draft pick in next year’s draft a disappointing outcome for this season, at that!
So what makes Daniels so intriguing, and what areas of his game need some work? Let’s start on the defensive end of the floor.
At 6’6, 199 pounds, with a 6’10.5” wingspan, and a knack for being in the right place at the right time, defense is Daniels’ calling card, and you don’t have to watch him very long to figure out that he is an absolute menace on this side of the ball. Per dunksandthrees, his defensive EPM* ranked in the 95th percentile in each of his first two seasons in the league, and he averaged three steals per 100 possessions last season — a mark which ranked third in the NBA (amongst players who played in at least 55 games).
*One number metric that aims to predict a players’ contribution to his team in points per 100 possessions. If you’re interested, you can read more about it here.
Check out this play from preseason, where he masterfully baits Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into an errant pass, creating a three-on-two transition situation for Atlanta.
Dyson Daniels preseason steal vs. OKC
sets SGA up beautifully, then pounces on the pass before you can say ‘crikey’ ! pic.twitter.com/2cHpnkBu6l
— Hassan Ladiwala (@ladiwala_hassan) October 24, 2024
The slight hop towards the basket while ‘SGA’ is scanning Daniels’ side of the court lulls the Thunder superstar into a false sense of security, and he pounces on the pass the moment it even leaves SGA’s fingertips.
Daniels notched “only” 5 steals in four preseason games, but didn’t waste any time formally introducing himself to Hawks fans during the regular season opener, equaling that total in just 34 minutes of action against the Nets on Wednesday.
Dyson steal vs. Nets (1) pic.twitter.com/YevJpdpSm4
— Hassan Ladiwala (@ladiwala_hassan) October 24, 2024
Dyson Daniels steal vs. Nets (2) pic.twitter.com/a6dqbp91PO
— Hassan Ladiwala (@ladiwala_hassan) October 24, 2024
Daniels said at media day that his goal this year is to make First Team All-Defense which, whether he actually ends up making it or not, tells you all you need to know about his mentality and the standard he sets for himself on this end of the floor. For a Hawks team that hasn’t finished in the top half of the league in defensive rating since Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap and Dennis Schroder were rocking the red, white and gold (if you’re unfamiliar, this was the 2016-17 season), Daniels’ defensive ability is a godsend.
Moving on to his offense, specifically his scoring ability, Daniels took nearly half of (43%) of his field goal attempts from three-point range in New Orleans, though wasn’t a particularly efficient three-point shooter, shooting just 31.2% from deep (despite most of these looks being wide open) through his first two seasons in the league. Though he went an impressive 8-for-21 (38.1%) from three in the preseason this year, and just went 2-for-4 from downtown in the season opener on Wednesday, Daniels’ comfort as a shooter off-the-catch is going to be an important part of his game to track this season.
Inside the arc, Daniels’ shot a respectable 55% on twos last season, and even though he saw a slight uptick in his efficiency from the mid-range, he needs to be more consistent finishing around the basket and from the free-throw stripe, with his rim FG% (60%) and free-throw percentage (64%) ranking below the league-average in 2023-24 per dunksandthrees.
Daniels didn’t have the ball in his hands all that much in New Orleans (12.2% usage rate), though he is an underrated passer with nice ‘feel’ on offense, and posted a 1.16 assist-to-usage ratio last season — a mark which ranked in the 72nd percentile amongst combo guards per cleaningtheglass.
Off of the ball, he is an intelligent cutter, something which was evident in preseason, and a skill he flashed on Wednesday night as well (third clip).
Dyson Daniels preseason cut vs. Pacers pic.twitter.com/BcbSPkmcq9
— Hassan Ladiwala (@ladiwala_hassan) October 24, 2024
Dyson Daniels preseason cut vs. 76ers (nice pass by Kobe too!) pic.twitter.com/xDDbrMpUIV
— Hassan Ladiwala (@ladiwala_hassan) October 24, 2024
Daniels’ offense is still a work in progress, but at 21 years old, he has ample time to develop this part of his game. Fortunately, the Hawks’ have a lot of offensive firepower on their roster in Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic to name a few, so it’s not like he will be tasked with a bigger role than he is ready for off the bat. And I’m excited to see how much he improves while learning to play off of his teammates this season in Atlanta.
There’s no doubt that Daniels is going to play a vital role alongside Trae Young in the Hawks’ backcourt in 2024-25. He played 35 minutes in the season opener, and if his offense holds up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him average 30-35 minutes per-game for the Hawks this season, as his defense is simply a gamechanger for a squad that was far too lackadaisical on that end last season.
It’s still early days, but I sure am glad that Dyson Daniels is a Hawk, and I can’t to watch his growth this season.
Notes: All statistics/video used in this article are from basketballreference.com, nba.com/stats, cleaningtheglass.com, dunksandthrees.com or bball-index.com