Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels has won the 2024-25 KIA NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award, the league announced on April 30.
Among the career-highs he set this season, Daniels averaged 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists while starting 76 games and leading the NBA with 3.0 steals per game. He also canned 34% from deep, besting his career mark of 31.2% entering the campaign.
And Daniels is not looking to rest on his laurels, either.
“Just my third year in the league, and my first two being in New Orleans. I felt like I kind of went in there and wasn’t myself. I feel like I kind of took a backseat role. So, I came to this third year and I wanted to really put my foot down, and go out there and show what I could do. I think it's just a small step in the right direction this year, and I feel like I got a lot more in me,” Daniels told the TNT studio crew on April 30.
It was like just getting a fresh start. Being in New Orleans my first two years, I wasn’t happy with how I performed. And coming to Atlanta, I got the opportunity to get a fresh start, get that starting 2-guard spot, and then play … with a good team. And I think it’s just coming in with the right mindset, you know, working hard in the offices and having a good Olympic campaign, and coming in and going out there and being aggressive. Being myself and not care about making mistakes.”
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1917719881614582103
“I think that was the main thing this year,” Daniels said, “I got trust from my coaches, trust from my teammates, and I was able to go out there and be myself.”
Daniels said that he wanted to earn a spot on the All-Defensive First Team, which will be announced in June, from Day 1. His shortfall in Defensive Player of the Year was part of a disappointing run in postseason awards for the Hawks.
Zaccharie Risacher finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.
Trae Young was not even named a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year. Young told Daniels to use his DPOY miss as motivation. Daniels is already plenty motivated already.
“That’s the great thing, and I really believe I could win this award twice, because I know I got so much more left in me to show in this league, and so much more improvement,” Daniels said. “So for me, it’s going to be about taking that next step next year, and setting new goals. And I want to be an All-Star in this league. I want to be a championship player. So I set the bar high. It’s about going up there and executing that now.”
Through two seasons, Daniels had started 27 of the 120 games that he played in. His line was 4.8/3.5/2.5 with 1.1 SPG.
The next step for Daniels and the Hawks is a contract extension.
He has one year left on his four-year, $25 million rookie contract, and he is only one year removed from those modest numbers. The expectation remains that the Hawks will look to extend Daniels like they have with Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu the last two years.
How their current front office situation impacts that is unclear. The individual responsible for bringing Daniels in, VP of Pro Personnel Grant Liffmann, is no longer with the organization.