Does Atlanta Hawks Guard Dyson Daniels Have A Case for the 2025 DPOY?

With the recent announcement that Victor Wembenyama will miss the rest of the 2024-25 season, Daniels has a better chance of earning the prestigous honor.

Rohan Raman | Feb 20, 2025

Feb 12, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) looks to drive past Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) in the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

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Atlanta Hawks

Regardless of position, Dyson Daniels has been one of the best defenders in the NBA this season. He's leading the NBA in steals with 2.98 steals a night, the highest mark since Milwaukee Bucks guard Alvin Robertson accrued 3.04 steals per game in the 1990-91 season. At 6'8, he's much bigger than most of the point guards he goes up against. His combination of size and quickness makes him a difficult matchup for practically any ball-handler to solve and there simply aren't many players in the NBA who hold up on the perimeter in the way that he does.

However, the award of Defensive Player of the Year has been traditionally awarded to the best defensive big man in the game. This year, that's been Victor Wembanyama. He leads the league in blocks per game with 3.8 and grades out as a 99th percentile defender by defensive box plus-minus. Unfortunately, it was announced that Wembanyama will miss the rest of the season with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.

It's a massive loss for the Spurs, but also opens up the field for the DPOY competition. The next two logical candidates are Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley and Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. Mobley has been a critical part of the Cavs' top-10 team defensive rating while Jackson has anchored a Grizzlies defense that ranks in the top-10 for opponent 3P% and opponent FG% almost by himself. He also has some pedigree, winning the award in 2022-23. Those two are clear contenders for the award, but what about Daniels?

First, it's important to acknowledge that no guard has won the award since Marcus Smart did it with the Celtics back in the 2021-22 season. Smart had a compelling case for the award for three reasons. There wasn't a big man who produced a ton of obviously highlight-worthy plays on defense. Jackson Jr. and Rudy Gobert, who has racked up four DPOY nods from being the hub of a defensive system during his time with the Jazz and Timberwolves, produced their usual numbers and voters grew accustomed to their impact. Smart was also part of one of the best teams in basketball - the 2021-22 Celtics made a Finals run largely based on how excellent their defense was. While Smart was probably the best perimeter defender in basketball, he also benefitted from having a good defensive system around him and getting tons of attention due to his team's success.

From a talent perspective, I'd argue Daniels has been a better defender in the 2024-25 season then Smart was during the 2021-22 season. Last season, the Hawks had the fourth-worst defensive rating in the NBA. Jalen Johnson and DeAndre Hunter obviously played a significant role in that, but the Hawks have been a top-15 defense by team defensive rating since Johnson's season-ending injury on January 29th. The sample size is too small to determine what the effect of losing Hunter will be, but the Hawks have managed to stay league-average despite losing one of their best defenders because of how Daniels generates extra possessions for the offense. Daniels doesn't play with a bevy of talented perimeter defenders around him nor does he have a dominant rim-protecting big behind him for support.

Now, the overall defensive impact numbers are going to favor big men like Jackson Jr. and Mobley. Rim protection is going to be more valued in the advanced metrics and the on-off swings aren't as big for Daniels than they are for either of the aforementioned players. However, there are two key factors that could potentially help Daniels' case.

First, the Hawks have to continue playing well on defense and make a run to the postseason. If Atlanta's defense can go from a middling unit to top-10, there is a legitimate case for Daniels to get the award as the best defender on a good defense. It simply isn't possible for the Hawks to be a top-five unit on that end of the ball, but strong play from Terence Mann and Caris LeVert on defense could give Daniels the help he needs to boost the unit. Onyeka Okongwu's rim protection also needs to get better. His lack of size against true seven-footers is still a problem and he doesn't have the strength to hold his own. That could come with time in the starting center role, but it probably won't change in time for it to matter for this season.

Secondly, Daniels has to keep generating turnovers at his current rate. There's a good chance that it isn't a sustainable mark, especially as the last two months of the season approach. He also needs to have signature games that sway voters. For example, if Daniels can shut down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (easier said than done) in Atlanta's game versus the Thunder on Feb. 28, voters will factor that game significantly into their decision. Voting takes place between April 16-19, so Daniels has two months to make his case.

Even assuming that both of those things happen, Daniels still has a lot of factors working against him. However,, the fact that his play as an individual defender has merited this discussion makes him a virtual lock for the All-Defensive First Team this year. He'll be critical to Atlanta's chances of securing a playoff berth over the last part of the regular season.

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