{"id":128677,"date":"2025-03-14T17:39:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=128677"},"modified":"2025-03-14T17:39:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:39:45","slug":"hawks-dyson-daniels-defensive-player-of-the-year-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/14\/hawks-dyson-daniels-defensive-player-of-the-year-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks&#8217; Dyson Daniels Leading Defensive Player Of The Year Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Hawks may not have known that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a> would breakout this quickly.<\/p>\n<h2>Hawks&#8217; Dyson Daniels Leading Defensive Player Of The Year Race<\/h2>\n<p>Before he was drafted, Daniels looked like he could emerge as a two-way force with his blend of length, ball skills, and defensive instincts. Nevertheless, the New Orleans Pelicans had several players who they were more invested in. What made their use of Daniels even more questionable was that they needed a point guard to organize their offense.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Atlanta Hawks officially announced the Dejounte Murray trade for Dyson Daniels, forwards E.J. Liddell and Larry Nance Jr. and center Cody Zeller, a 2025 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 first-round pick (least favorable of Bucks\/Pelicans, protected top four) today: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ey5HQfKJev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Ey5HQfKJev<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JJ (@JameelahJNBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JameelahJNBA\/status\/1809734974154629186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Initially, there was confusion about why the Hawks didn&#8217;t acquire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dejounte Murray<\/a> deal.<\/p>\n<p>After all, they had <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/12\/whats-hawks-endgame-after-dejounte-murray-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">been linked to<\/a> the star forward in trade talks. However, Daniels quickly put those questions to bed. Fans were treated to a small taste of what he could bring in the preseason. In those four contests, the 2022 No. 8 pick averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 38.1 percent from 3.<\/p>\n<p>Many raved about his upside as an off-ball threat. Others still took note of his perimeter defense. He might not have been as skilled a scorer as Ingram or Murray. Yet, his fit alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> was clearly underestimated.<\/p>\n<h3>Two-Way Force<\/h3>\n<p>Daniels&#8217;s regular season has gone even better.<\/p>\n<p>In 61 games, the 6-foot-7 playmaker has averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists per contest. Playing the passing lanes like an NFL defensive back, he leads the NBA with 3.0 steals per contest and 362 total deflections. He also has a league-leading 209 defensive stops. Looking at NBA.com&#8217;s advanced stats, Daniels has been holding pick-and-roll ball-handlers to 0.90 points per possession and pick-and-roll roll men to 1.03 points per possession.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">1. Dyson Daniels \ud83d\udddc\ufe0f<br \/>\n45. Trae \u201cTwo-Way\u201d Young \ud83d\udddc\ufe0f<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TrueToAtlanta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TrueToAtlanta<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gak3RKHwUP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gak3RKHwUP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 BRANDON &#8211; HAWKS HOMECOURT \ud83c\udfc0\ud83d\udcfa (@Hawks_HomeCourt) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hawks_HomeCourt\/status\/1900293022572560829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>At the other end, his efficiency from beyond the arc has regressed towards the mean, as he&#8217;s shooting 34.9 percent from deep. Nevertheless, he&#8217;s making 37.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts, a career-high. He&#8217;s also shown the ability to step up as a scorer, posting nine games with 20+ points.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, he&#8217;s leading the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year race. At least he should be.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dyson Daniels is not getting enough consideration for defensive player of the year <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IjKr4Ck38k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/IjKr4Ck38k<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Fullcourtpass\/status\/1899967480774222214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Averaging 3.7 steals and blocks per game combined, he only trails San Antonio Spurs center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a> in that category. Likely due to Wembanyama being <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/20\/breaking-news-spurs-victor-wembanyama-out-for-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">ruled out for the season<\/a> in mid-February, which disqualified the Frenchman being disqualified from the Defensive Player of the Year race, he&#8217;s now surpassed him to be the league&#8217;s leader in combined blocks and steals (229).<\/p>\n<h3>Other DPOY Candidates<\/h3>\n<p>Given that Cleveland Cavaliers big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a> is holding pick-and-roll ball-handlers to 0.90 points per possession and pick-and-roll roll men to 0.83 points per possession, he can&#8217;t be ignored in the Defensive Player of the Year conversations. On post-ups, his matchups score 0.93 points per possession.<\/p>\n<p>Memphis Grizzlies big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/a> is holding pick-and-roll ball-handlers to 0.84 points per possession and pick-and-roll roll men to 0.85 points per possession. On post-ups, his matchups score 1.04 points per possession.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&#8217;s Portland Trail Blazers sophomore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camarto01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toumani Camara<\/a>. Though his counting stats don&#8217;t stand out quite like Daniels&#8217;s, he&#8217;s arguably a top-three wing stopper in the NBA right now.<\/p>\n<p>Each of those players should be considered for the All-Defensive First Team. However, none of them have been quite as impactful as Daniels individually. Thus, the Great Barrier Thief should be on his way to winning this season&#8217;s Defensive Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Hawks may not have known that Dyson Daniels would breakout this quickly. Hawks&#8217; Dyson Daniels Leading Defensive Player Of The Year Race Before he was drafted, Daniels looked like he could emerge as a two-way force with his blend of length, ball skills, and defensive instincts. Nevertheless, the New Orleans Pelicans had several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":128692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1608,9,32,62,33,23],"tags":[4605,3966,1948,1143,49155,4669],"class_list":["post-128677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-grizzlies","category-nba","category-pelicans","category-trailblazers","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-evan-mobley","tag-jaren-jackson-jr","tag-nba-awards","tag-toumani-camara","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128694,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128677\/revisions\/128694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}