{"id":136170,"date":"2025-04-25T09:08:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=136170"},"modified":"2025-04-25T09:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:08:37","slug":"dyson-daniels-was-favored-in-dpoy-poll-despite-shaky-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/25\/dyson-daniels-was-favored-in-dpoy-poll-despite-shaky-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyson Daniels Was Favored In DPOY Poll Despite Shaky Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Victor Wembanyama<\/a> went down with deep vein thrombosis, the NBA\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) race shifted<\/a>. The San Antonio Spurs<\/a>\u2019 season ended with that diagnosis, but the DPOY field opened up. New names gained traction, and debates quickly followed. Jaren Jackson Jr<\/a>., Luguentz Dort<\/a>, Evan Mobley,<\/a> and even Draymond Green<\/a> each received strong media backing. In the end, the NBA officially awarded the trophy to Mobley. Yet, if coaches had their say, the result would have been different. A DPOY poll had Dyson Daniels<\/a> as the surprising winner.<\/p>\n

Dyson Daniels Was Heavily Favored In DPOY Poll Despite Shaky Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Coaches Preferred Daniels in DPOY Poll<\/h3>\n

In a poll<\/a> conducted by The Athletic\u2019s<\/em> Josh Robbins, 13 NBA coaches and assistants gave their pick for DPOY. The majority chose Daniels, the young Atlanta Hawks<\/a> guard. While not the media\u2019s choice, Daniels topped this specific DPOY poll thanks to his elite on-ball defense and league-leading steals numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cDyson Daniels has become one of the league\u2019s elite perimeter defenders,\u201d said<\/a> one coach. \u201cHe\u2019s doing things we haven\u2019t seen in years.\u201d Their praise wasn\u2019t empty. Daniels led the entire NBA with 229 total steals and averaged 3.0 steals per game across 76 starts. These numbers helped build the case for Daniels in the DPOY poll, even if the Hawks struggled overall.<\/p>\n

Media vs Coaches: A Divide in Perception<\/h3>\n

While the coaches\u2019 poll put Daniels at the top, media voters went another route. They selected<\/a> Mobley, the versatile Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> big man, as the 2024-25 DPOY. Mobley had a well-rounded year, averaging 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. His offensive improvements drew attention, but voters largely recognized him for anchoring Cleveland\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

Still, the coaches saw it differently. In their eyes, Mobley didn\u2019t even crack the top three. Dort finished second with four first-place votes and 24 points. Green landed third, collecting two top votes and 18 total points. Mobley finished fourth, suggesting that the coaches valued metrics like individual steals and assignment defense more than team success or media narratives.<\/p>\n

Daniels’ Case Not Without Flaws<\/h3>\n

Despite his statistical success, Daniels\u2019 DPOY case had some clear weaknesses. Atlanta\u2019s defense ranked 18th<\/a> in defensive rating and 28th<\/a> in Opponent’s points. Rarely does a Defensive Player of the Year come from such a weak defensive team. In fact, the last time a player won the award from outside a top-10 defense was Marcus Camby<\/a> in 2006-07. His Denver Nuggets finished 11th that season.<\/p>\n

Even though Daniels led the league in steals, some voters questioned if those numbers translated to meaningful team impact. Steals can be misleading when not paired with overall team cohesion on defense. Nonetheless, Dyson Daniels’ elite anticipation and quick hands couldn\u2019t be ignored in this year\u2019s DPOY poll. Daniels made his mark despite the Hawks’ limitations.<\/p>\n

Daniels Gained Respect After Pelicans Trade<\/h3>\n

Daniels arrived in Atlanta via the Dejounte Murray<\/a> trade. That move paid off tremendously. He quickly made an impression as a tenacious perimeter stopper. By midseason, he led most defensive tracking stats among guards. Daniels guarded top scorers nightly and often succeeded in disrupting opposing game plans.<\/p>\n

Coaches and assistants recognized that. His place atop the DPOY poll reflects growing league-wide respect. While the media leaned toward Mobley and rewarded Cleveland\u2019s team success, those closer to the action appreciated Daniels’ consistency and grit.<\/p>\n

Daniels’ Future in the DPOY Conversation<\/h3>\n

Daniels may not have won the official award this year, but his name now lives among elite defenders. Being the top pick in the coaches\u2019 DPOY poll says a lot. If he can maintain or even improve next season, he\u2019ll remain in the conversation. A better team defense around him would only strengthen his case.<\/p>\n

The Daniels DPOY poll results show how coaches see the game differently. They value matchups, individual defensive talent, and effort over media narratives. Daniels\u2019 rise from trade asset to defensive centerpiece proves that numbers and on-court grind can still catch the eyes of those who know defense best.<\/p>\n

Going forward, if the Hawks improve defensively, expect Daniels to be a regular presence in every DPOY poll discussion. He may not have the hardware this year, but he has the respect\u2014and that can be just as valuable.<\/p>\n

When Victor Wembanyama went down with deep vein thrombosis, the NBA\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) race shifted. The San Antonio Spurs\u2019 season ended with that diagnosis, but the DPOY field opened up. New names gained traction, and debates quickly followed. Jaren Jackson Jr., Luguentz Dort, Evan Mobley, and even Draymond Green each received […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":136173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[62,4,1608,3],"tags":[49979,558,4605,3966,49701],"class_list":["post-136170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-news","tag-2024-25-nba-season","tag-defensive-player-of-the-year","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-evan-mobley","tag-the-athletic"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136170","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136170"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136174,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136170\/revisions\/136174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}