Dyson Daniels signed a four-year, $100 million extension this offseason that looks like it will age poorly.
Most Hawks fans (myself included) believed the contract was an absolute steal when it was signed. Daniels was coming off a season where he won Most Improved Player and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He snapped franchise records, set a new bar for steals per game since the league banned hand-checks, and redefined what an elite defensive season looked like in the NBA.
While there were concerns regarding his offensive effectiveness, his status as the league’s premier perimeter defender made him a no-brainer alongside Trae Young.
It was also seen as critical for Atlanta to extend Daniels before playing a fourth season, and Jalen Johnson was living proof as to why. Johnson signed a five-year, $150 million extension during the 2024 offseason. Just one year later, his $30 million annually looked like one of the best in the league during last offseason. If Daniels had experienced a similar level of development this season, they could form the backbone of a dangerous yet underpaid star core.
Without Young, however, Daniels’ fit in Atlanta looks much more questionable. The G League Ignite product has always been a shaky shooter, peaking at 34.0% last season. While this isn’t a horrid three point percentage, it was bolstered by the fact that Daniels took the most wide-open threes in the league. Teams didn’t respect his jump shot in the slightest, but Daniels could barely take advantage of this.
How good does Daniels’ defense have to be to make up for his offensive weaknesses?
Daniels’ shooting took a turn for the worse that nobody expected
Daniels’ shooting struggles this season have been well documented. From an active 18-game (41-day) streak without a made three pointer to a measly 10.9% clip from deep, Daniels is flirting with broken records for all the wrong reasons this time around.
While it seems obvious that Daniels will regress to the mean at some point by improving his deep shot, it’s also safe to assume he won’t exactly be a knockdown shooter.
This brings us back to the age-old question regarding defensive specialists: at what point does bad offense outweigh good defense? Wherever this threshold lies, Daniels’ offense has dipped below this line – he hasn’t been a negative overall, but he certainly hasn’t played like a $25 million man.
Barring catastrophe, Daniels will always be a good defender. He is an incredibly smart player who has mastered the chess game of basketball, constantly giving his opponents different looks to force them into uncomfortable positions. On that same note – barring extraordinary improvement – Daniels will always be a burden to Atlanta’s spacing. While he isn’t on a horrible contract, the Hawks could have saved over $10 million annually by remaining patient.