Natural talent, a worker’s mentality, and good fortune can take anyone far in this world. Atlanta Hawks wing Dyson Daniels may soon know that as well as anyone. The eighth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Daniels’s career was off to a slow start. However, it’s been blasting off since the trade.
Hawks’ Dyson Daniels On Verge Of Making NBA History
An integral starter for a competitive ball club, Daniels is currently averaging career-highs of 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on 48.3 percent shooting from the field. In fact, he’s more than doubled his scoring average (5.8) and steal average (1.4) from the previous season. He’s even shooting 36.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s in 2024-25, another career-high.
At this rate, he’s on pace to win the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year and 2025 Most Improved Player awards.
To be fair, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was diagnosed with a season-ending illness that disqualified him from the DPOY conversation. Los Angeles Clippers wing Norman Powell has been in and out of the lineup a bit too frequently, so he won’t reach the 65-game minimum requirement for MIP. That being said, Wembanyama and Powell were long the favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player, respectively.
With health on Daniels’s side, he should be the benefactor in both situations.
No Question
If Daniels does win DPOY and MIP, he’d be the second player in NBA history to win both awards in the same season.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, is the last player to win Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. However, he won DPOY in 2020, three years after winning MIP. In 1986, 1984 No. 7 pick Alvin Robertson won Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player while playing under legendary head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. Suiting up in all 82 games, he averaged 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per contest.
Comparison is the thief of joy. To that point, while Daniels has turned heads, he isn’t playing at the level Antetokounmpo and Robertson were. Nevertheless, he’s a brand new man now that he’s out of the Pelicans’ shackles. He’s gotten so far from Dejounte Murray‘s shadow there’s nobody left to question whether the Hawks made a good trade.
What’s In His Bag?
It starts with his defense.
DYSON DANIELS HAS 194 STEALS – MORE THAN ANY PLAYER IN THE LAST 15 YEARS 🔐🔐
The league’s leader in steals breaks down some of his best from the season with Trey Phills! pic.twitter.com/prmiComQEb
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2025
Daniels does his homework on his opponents and on his contemporaries, searching for the former’s weaknesses and the latter’s strength. His genius complemented by spindly limbs, he plucks basketballs away in a way that inspires images of candy and babies. When that defense turns into points at the other end, it electrifies the arena, but it doesn’t satiate him.
Dyson Daniels is now the youngest player in NBA history to record 200+ STL in a season (22 years, 6 days).
The previous youngest?
Magic Johnson (22 years, 240 days) in 1981-82 🤩 https://t.co/fJo5OVcyGQ pic.twitter.com/NQSetokxuT
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) March 24, 2025
He wants more.
In fact, Daniels has 39 games with at least three steals this season, including 13 games with 5+ thefts. It’s no wonder that he’s now the youngest player to record 200+ steals in a single season. The record was previously owned by Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, who led the NBA in steals twice.
On offense, Daniels has been effective playing off of and setting the table for his teammates. Yet, he’s also been a nifty scorer off-the-dribble, catching defenders off-balance with fakes and spins. It doesn’t always look pretty, but it works.
© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
