Dyson Daniels and CJ McCollum are two of the most starkly different players that you could scheme up in a player-creation facility.
While one shoots the lights out and leverages his tight handle to make up for his lack of a tall, strong physical frame, the other utilizes his superior size, strength and one-of-a-kind defensive playmaking ability to boost his team up from everywhere on the floor.
Despite how different Dyson and CJ are, they were able to combine their starkly different playstyles to an overwhelmingly positive result last season - they were amongst the absolute best of the best amongst all tracked two-man lineups in the NBA.
Hawks duo amongst elite company
Daniels and McCollum ranked 8th amongst qualifying (min. 500 minutes) two-man lineups in the entire NBA last season, touting an impressive +14.0 net rating. What's even more impressive is the competition they faced at 1-7.
It should come as absolutely no surprise that three of the top seven duos featured some combination of Victor Wembanyama + other Spur. Let's set Wemby aside, being the alien he's proven to be.
The same can be said for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - three more of the top seven lineups featured some combination of SGA + other Thunder.
That leaves only one other duo - coming in first overall in net rating as a duo last season, Derrick White and Hugo Gonzalez boasted an astonishing +17.3 net rating! No other Celtics graced the top ten in this coveted category, either (much unlike Wemby's Spurs or SGA's Thunder).
Unlike White and Gonzalez - two incredibly positive defenders that play off each other's similarities to high degrees of efficacy - Dyson and CJ found their success in the exact opposite manner.
Dyson and CJ mask each other's weaknesses and fortify each other's strengths
Quin Snyder, in spite of all his coaching X's and O's genius, ended up making the simplest decision of all to wind up sending his Hawks to new heights last season - mask his weaknesses with strengths.
On paper, it's such an easy choice. When you have an offensive liability in Dyson who struggled to shoot the long-ball all year long, you ensure he's always on the court with a lights-out shooter who can stretch defenses with the best.
Conversely, when you have an undersized, slow guard that gets exposed on the defensive end of the floor more often than not, you ensure he's always right beside one of the very best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA.
Thanks to their partners in crime, Dyson and CJ allowed the Hawks to find success time and again. While CJ may not be sticking around for the long haul, it will be an absolute joy to see them light up opponents on both ends of the floor next year - even if it turns out to be their swan song as a duo.
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