Dyson Daniels’ last season was nothing short of spectacular.
En route to runner-up Defensive Player of the Year honors, All-Defensive First Team recognition, and winning Most Improved Player outright, Daniels seemed poised to build off of this sensational season with another building block in a young, promising career.
This season has unfortunately gone horribly awry for the young stud.
Through the Hawks’ first four games, posting a less-than-ideal 1-3 record, Daniels has posted two separate statistics that are both serious causes for concern.
First, Daniels’ shot attempts, the vast majority of which have come within the arc, have totaled a putrid 34.7% to begin the year. To make matters worse, this includes an atrocious 31.8% on two point attempts - far below league average.
It should also be noted that Daniels’ three point shot, while technically still a good percentage, has been almost nonexistent at only two attempts across his first four games.
Daniels’ shot volume is also eerily low to start the year.
In addition to his break-a-mirror inside the arc shooting, Daniels just hasn't attempted that many shots at all, averaging just a thread over 6 shot attempts per game. That's a whopping half of what he posted last year, averaging over 12 shot attempts per game.
While a certain degree of shot regression was bound to happen thanks to the acquisitions of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kristaps Porzingis (though KP obviously doesn't compete with positional minutes with Daniels, he's a more scoring-inclined big than Clint Capela was in years past for Atlanta), fans certainly shouldn't have expected the cliff to be nearly this steep.
Part of the justification for Daniels' draft selection in 2022 was his ability as a ball handler and point guard. In his "collegiate" year at the G League Ignite program, Daniels handled the "traditional point guard" duties and deferred the high-scoring role typically associated with a shooting guard to Jaden Hardy.
Daniels was a capable operator of the offense in this role. While the scoring will have to come along for him to reach his ceiling, Daniels could provide a much-needed stabilizing presence for the Hawks' offense if he can replicate this success. Despite his track record in this role and the skills to execute, however, Daniels has been mediocre at best in this role through four games and often seems invisible.
While Daniels’ shot volume and percentages are both serious issues across the first week for the Hawks, his defense remains stellar. Still, if the G League Ignite product hopes to round out an improved season to last year’s, the offense simply must turn around.