The Atlanta Hawks have started several players alongside Trae Young in the backcourt, trying to find the right sidekick.
Kevin Huerter wasn’t effective enough. Cam Reddish wasn’t consistent enough. Dejounte Murray was too redundant.
Now, Dyson Daniels is poised to be Young’s new running mate. Acquired when the Hawks traded Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason, the Aussie spoke to Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about getting a fresh start on the East Coast:
“I think I feel like in New Orleans, I was kind of bottled up a little bit, and it was hard to try to find myself and find whatever I wanted to do,” Daniels says. “…I was kind of tense and not relaxed. It was always stressful. So just to be able to get out of there, have a new beginning in Atlanta, new team.”
Hawks Newcomer Dyson Daniels Details Fit Next To Trae Young
A long-limbed two-way playmaker in the mold of players like four-time NBA champion Draymond Green and 2016 No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, Daniels only played 20.0 minutes per game with the Pelicans. Whether he felt entitled to see the court more, he couldn’t have expected to do it from the bench 60 percent of the time.
Prior to being drafted, Daniels had converted just 30.0 percent of his threes with the G League Ignite in 2021-22. This tracked with his performance in the 2021 U19 FIBA World Cup, where he made 30.2 percent of his threes. So, him being a career 31.2 percent three-point shooter is par for the course.
That being said, New Orleans selected Daniels eighth overall while knowing that he wasn’t a sniper. Though the analytics age has changed the way the game is played, why take a player in the lottery if his jumper was going to be a hang-up? The situation wasn’t even more silly when considering that the Pelicans were desperate for a point guard.
Daniels is a natural facilitator, yet he isn’t ball-dominant. Those traits are likely what made Hawks general manager Landry Fields believe he could play alongside Young. However, when discussing his fit with team’s franchise star, Daniels touted his versatility and basketball IQ:
“…I’m ready to step foot on the floor and have an impact, be out there picking up full-court defense, playing off Trae, knocking down shots, getting to the rim, just being that kind of that (all-around) guy. Trae’s gonna get a lot of attention. So it’s about running the ball, making the right reads, right decisions coming up, slipping out screens, setting good screens.”
Frankly, with his physical tools, guard skills, and cerebral processing, it probably wouldn’t even be fair to pigeonhole him at any particular position. Should the shooting stroke he’s shown since the Paris Olympics hold, he’ll even more dynamic.
The Last Word On Dyson Daniels
The Hawks can pick up Daniels’ option for 2025-26 and likely will. Still, these next two seasons will be an extended audition for the 21-year-old. Aside from how he develops individually, Atlanta will be assessing how he looks next to core players like Young, Jalen Johnson, and Zaccharie Risacher.
So far, so good, but they haven’t played any games that count yet. In the best case scenario, Daniels helps form a defensive wall behind Young while being a connector on offense. In the worst case, he cools off beyond the arc while at least one of Young or Johnson shoots below league average.
One has to wonder if Daniels will be used as a trade chip at some point regardless though. The Hawks lack enough top-end talent to be seen as a real title-contender. While they look like they’re re-tooling rather than rebuilding, it’s unclear how patient Young will be while that happens.
