Dyson Daniels is challenging convention. In his first season with the Atlanta Hawks, Daniels has established himself as one of the top defensive players and an ascending two-way player while providing a near-ideal complement to Trae Young in the backcourt.
Traded from the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2024 offseason, Daniels entered the 2024-25 season stating his desire to earn First-Team All-Defense honors.
As of March 5, Daniels had the second-best odds for Defensive Player of the Year (+400) and Most Improved Player (+280) on Bet MGM. He still faces uphill battles for both awards, though, much of which is out of his control.
“The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award selection process is straightforward. Voters tend to pick the best defensive player on one of the best defensive teams in the league,” Bet MGM’s Shane Jackson wrote on March 5. “Remarkably, 11 of the previous 12 winners have played on a team that ranked first or second in defensive rating. All 12 of those DPOY winners were on a team that ranked first or second in points allowed per 100 possessions, a testament to the consistency of this formula.
“However, that formula might be changing based on the latest NBA betting odds for the DPOY race in 2025.”
Dyson Daniels chasing various accolades with Hawks
Daniels would be the second guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1995-96, following Marcus Smart’s controversial win in 2021-22. Notably, it was a “guard award” at its inception, with five of the first six winners playing in the backcourt.
“Daniels, at 3 steals per game, is the only player averaging more than 1.8 who is likely to reach the 65-appearance cutoff,” NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner wrote on March 5. “The Hawks wing is on pace for 237 steals if he finishes out Atlanta’s schedule. That would be the most in a season in 33 years, dating back to John Stockton’s 244 in 1991-92. With 344 deflections, he’s running away from No. 2 Kelly Oubre Jr. (233). It’s not just the gaudy numbers, either – Daniels’ timing is impeccable too.”
Aschburner called Daniels a “worthy” candidate for Most Improved Player.
“The NBA’s Most Improved Player has become an interesting race in recent seasons,” Jackson wrote in a separate article on March 5. “Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey won the award in 2023-24 after entering the year with +1200 odds. There was an argument that he might have already been too good to win MIP, but his selection followed a familiar formula of recent winners: a good player establishes himself as an All-Star.
“Maxey was the fifth consecutive MIP to earn his first All-Star selection in the same season he won the award. Seven of the past eight winners have been first-time All-Stars, with the lone exception being Pascal Siakam, who earned an All-Star nod the year after he won MIP.”
The first MIP in league history, guard Alvin Robertson, is the only player in league history to win both awards in the same season.