The Atlanta Hawks kicked off trade season by trading Trae Young to the Washington Wizards. There's perhaps no player better positioned to benefit from this deal than fellow backcourt counterpart, Dyson Daniels. With all of the time that Trae Young has missed up to this point in the season, Daniels' role in this offense has varied heavily on the game script.
On one hand, Dyson Daniels has proved to be one of Atlanta's greatest playmakers on this current roster, but with the likely turnover happening in the near future, Trae Young being out of the building would allow Dyson Daniels to truly settle into a secure role for the rest of this season.
In some games, Daniels is asked to be the leader of the offense. In other games, he's asked to play a role, whether defensively or rotationally. Either way, this inconsistency in his role has taken a major toll on his output, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
So far this season, Dyson Daniels is shooting an abysmal 11.9% from three, and with at least 50 attempts, this ranks him dead last in the NBA, far behind second-place Brandon Williams, who is shooting 19.7% from the arc.
In fact, if Daniels were to keep up this pace, this would rank as the third-worst three point percentage of all time, with a minimum of 50 attempts in a season.
A change of pace was needed for Dyson Daniels
It's clear the keys to the offense will be going to Jalen Johnson, not Dyson Daniels. However, despite Daniels' shooting woes, his impact on the court will be as necessary as anything else.
With Trae Young out of the equation, Daniels can settle into a defined role without worrying about being tasked with other unrealistic responsibilities on offense. Even so, Daniels has never been asked to do much on the offensive side of the ball, so if he's able to keep up his tenacity on defense, then his role is as clearly defined as ever if Trae Young were to be shipped off.
Dyson Daniels would still be tasked with being a playmaker on offense, but this doesn't necessarily mean he's being asked to be the team's primary scorer. When Trae Young commanded the offense, a lot of Dyson Daniels' time was being spent on the wing or in the corner, waiting for Trae Young to swing the rock.
Now with Jalen Johnson as the team's primary initiator, Daniels would have more opportunity to settle into what he's good at: decision-making, instinctive passing, and spacing to open up the rest of the offense.
Additionally, Jalen Johnson's game has complemented Daniels' far more than what we've seen from Trae Young operating the offense.
From Daniels' perspective, this trade is absolutely something he should be rooting for if he does wish to continue to expand his game and his role. Daniels, who the Hawks just resigned to a 4-year, $100 million extension over the summer, is being shown that the front office is ready to put their trust in him, so he should be eager for this February 5th deadline.
Trae Young himself isn't the reason why Dyson Daniels has been held back this season. Rather, it's the offensive structure that a player like Trae Young demands that has highlighted Daniels' offensive weak points. A new structure would be the perfect way to mitigate these miscues, so Dyson Daniels should be excited about the new opportunities on the horizon for him.