The first time Dyson Daniels suited up for the Atlanta Hawks was a preseason game against the Indiana Pacers. The 21-year-old proved himself well, scoring 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting with three assists in 21 minutes and showing signs that his size, length and activity could make him an ideal complement to transcendent playmaker Trae Young. with the ball in his hands, but a frequent target at the other end of the floor.
“We have a defensive plan as a team that we want to take,” Daniels told reporters after the preseason affair. “And every team is different. [The Pacers] to have so many good individual players and a guy like that [Pascal] Siakam, you want to take away his right hand. A guy like [Tyrese] Haliburton, you want to take him back.”
But the game plan talk and “know your personnel” specifics have only served to exclude and obscure the secret truth beating in the Australian’s heart: What Dyson Daniels wants most from any offensive lineman is the ball. And if we’ve learned anything in the opening month of the 2024-25 NBA season, it’s this: It’s really indeed good at it.
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If you’re one of the masochistic sickos who’s been watching the chaos-soaked Pelicans for the last few seasons — [waves at you warmly] — You already knew the 6-foot-8 Daniels could sit and guard. Daniels, the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft out of the now-defunct G League incubator program Ignite, showed impressive flashes of destruction in New Orleans and topped the NBA in steals and deflections per minute last season. But with Herb Jones firmly established as the top point guard in the starting lineup, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III all in line for starting minutes on the perimeter, the Pelicans look to add another ball-handler and shot-maker. to one of the NBA’s worst offenses, New Orleans sent Daniels — along with veteran big men Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller and two future first-round picks — to Atlanta for Dejounte Murray.
The Pels have yet to reap the expected benefits of the deal; Murray has not played since breaking his left hand on opening night. But Atlanta saw its return gem pay immediate dividends. Daniels has quickly established himself not only as a starter alongside Young in Quin Snyder’s revamped club’s backcourt, but also as the NBA’s premier pickpocket: “The Great Barrier Thief” enters the Hawks’ matchup with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday leading the NBA in steals and turnovers. For example, from a a lot.
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Daniels is averaging 3.2 steals per game, one more than Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams and Houston’s Tari Eason, making him just the eighth player since the NBA began tracking steals in 1973-74 to average three steals per game. match – and the first to do so at 31 years old.
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Daniels has recorded an obscene 102 deflections in 15 games, which not only leads the league; it is 37 more than second baseman De’Aaron Fox, who played 138 more minutes than Daniels. The difference between the first Daniels and the second Fox is the same as the difference between Fox and 76ers forward Caleb Martin… in 99.
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Daniels secured a steal on 4.4% of opponents’ possessions and blocked a shot on 2.7% of their offensive trips. According to Stathead, only three players had a steal rate above 4% and a block rate above 2% before this season: Scottie Pippen and Nate McMillan in 1994-95 and Tony Allen in 2010-11. (Daniels is one of three players to do so so far this season, along with Eason and Thunder agent of chaos Alex Caruso.)
Watch Daniels play defense, and it’s amazing how seemingly everywhere he can be — he’s sixth among rotation players in defensive distance covered and 15th in average defensive movement speed, according to Second Spectrum — without sacrificing solidity in splash play services. Sticks to task no. 1 for any defender, he keeps the ball in front using his quick feet to mirror his trademark moves, and the underlying strength in that 6-foot-8 frame to absorb hits from attackers while maintaining his balance. He stays in position to break their drives, question their shots… and if they expose the ball even for a blink of an eye, he relieves them of the burden of handling it.
He rarely feels like he gets out of a free-kick position, and yet whenever the ball is in play, he simply moves. Inbound passes are not safe. Entry passes to the post and elbow are not safe. Corner jumps are not safe.
Crossovers are not safe, no matter how strong your grip is. Power drops in varnish are not safe, no matter how strong your hands are. Do you turn your back on him when you try to run your mouse over his teammate on the block? for sure it is not safe.
Even dribbling is not safe. Daniels blows them up, staying connected to the ball handler as he spins around the screen and forces his way to the ball, like a blitz defender rushing into the backfield. (He even talks about it as a football player: “For me, you know, it’s ‘See the ball, get the ball.'”)
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And if you think you have it blocked, were you able to knock him out of the game, turn the corner and get downhill to the basket? Think again: Still stalking like a horror movie villain, Daniels closes out the game with a 6-foot-10.5-inch wingspan and sticks the ball out from behind.
Daniels is producing one of the most disruptive individual defensive seasons in recent memory, ranking in the 99th percentile in perimeter isolation defense, passing lane defense and defensive play according to The BBall Index. And he does it without allowing himself the luxury of less dangerous offensive assignments to mess things up by playing free safety: Daniels, who lines up next to Young, routinely guards the most dangerous threat the opposition has to offer—Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry, Jalen Brunson, De’Aaron Fox, Zach LaVine et al. — and as a result, recorded the highest average game difficulty in the NBA to date according to the BBall Index.
Snyder and Co. the Hawks, who enter Monday at 7-10, still have a lot to think about, comfortably ensconced in their established home within the tournament spots. Daniels also has a long way to go – especially on the offensive end, where he’s shooting just 36% on jumpers this season and has missed two-thirds of his assist attempts in the last four games. ratio to turnover barely above 1:1. But while he remains a work-in-progress offensively, and while his individual play hasn’t led to extinguished every-star-your-meeting performances, he’s making an impact in an area where the Hawks have long needed it most: They’re allowing nearly five fewer points per 100 with Daniels on the floor , like when he is out.
Through the first month of the season, the difference between Atlanta’s defense at its usual fifth level and stops was about league average — a rate the Hawks haven’t managed since a surprise Eastern Conference finals appearance in 2021. The 21-year-old roams the perimeter, making the theme of “Jaws ” goes through the heads of the ball handlers. Daniels began his tenure in Atlanta by stressing the importance of knowing his staff; now he has become such a threat to attack offences he has to know so he doesn’t destroy their entire game plan, one nudge, flick, or swipe at a time.