Dyson Daniels won the Most Improved Player award in Year 1 with Atlanta, treating Hawks fans to a historic season of two-way excellence. The Great Barrier Thief broke the franchise record for steals in a single season with a league-leading 3.01 steals per game, marking just the tenth time in NBA history a player has averaged more than 3.0 steals for an entire campaign.
Daniels made his All-Defensive First Team debut and won Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month twice, ultimately finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Daniels also recorded the most deflections in a single season since the league started tracking them in 2015.
In a recent interview for Stellar (an Australian entertainment magazine), Daniels and Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey spoke about their rise to basketball stardom. The Aussie hoopers are longtime friends and Olympic teammates.
Daniels reflected on his first season with the Hawks and how it differed from his rocky NBA start with the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I saw it as a fresh start,” Daniels said. “I wasn’t happy with how I performed in my first year in the NBA. It wasn’t what I was capable of doing.”
Back in December, Daniels threw shade at the Pelicans organization that traded him for Dejounte Murray last summer. He pointed out the injury woes he dealt with during his time in New Orleans, along with extensive health concerns for what seems like most of the Pelicans’ players every year.
“That organization's cursed. Every year there's something new. I’m happy I’m not there anymore,” Daniels told NBA insider Jake Fischer. “The curse, man. I had like four or five ankle injuries down there as well. There's something down in that water down there or something. They got hamstrings. They got knees. They got concussions and stuff as well. They get everything down there. I don’t know what it is. Playing hard I guess?”
Dyson Daniels’ entire game took a leap with the Hawks
After missing more than 20 games in each of his first two seasons as a pro, Daniels only logged six absences with Atlanta. In a career-high 76 regular-season outings, Daniels posted career-best averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and field goal percentage. He also shot a career-high 34.0% from 3-point range on a career-high 1.1 made threes per game.
Daniels will look to build on his epic season next year, and he isn’t hiding his lofty aspirations. At the start of last season, Trae Young’s backcourt mate set a goal to make the All-Defensive First Team and made it happen. With Year 1 as a Hawk in the rearview mirror, Daniels’ goals are even bigger now.
"I really believe I could win this award [Most Improved Player] again," Daniels told Hawks.com’s Kevin Chouinard. "I've got so much more left in me. Next year, it's all about taking that next step and setting new goals. I want to be an All Star in this league, and I want to be a championship player."
At just 22 years old, the Australian shooting guard is still far away from his prime despite a legendary defensive campaign. Atlanta has never had a ball hawk quite like Daniels, and the team is expected to pay him like it this summer. The Great Barrier Thief is projected to receive an extension worth as much as $180 million for five years.
Daniels spoke further to Chouinard about how his ‘fresh start’ with the Hawks stemmed from the reality check his time in New Orleans gave him.
"I was out of the rotation," Daniels said. "I wasn't playing. I think that was what really drove me. It was either now or never. I could be out of the league next year if I don't perform, or I could go out there and make a statement."
In a matter of months, Daniels went from a young player who was afraid he could lose his job to the best defensive guard in basketball. Nobody needed the Hawks more than Daniels, and now they need him too.