NBA Analyst Names Dyson Daniels As The Atlanta Hawks Biggest Surprise Of The Season

Daniels has been a great addition for the Hawks and is making a huge impact on defense

Nov 25, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) blocks the shot of Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) as center Clint Capela (15) defends in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Through the first quarter of the NBA season, you would be hard pressed to find a player who was acquired this offseason who is making a bigger impact on their team than Dyson Daniels. The Atlanta Hawks acquired Daniels in the deal that sent Dejounte Murray to New Orleans. While the Hawks are still having certain struggles on defense, Daniels has been arguably the league's most impactful wing defender this season, leading the NBA in steals and deflections. While you could project Daniels as being a perfect fit next to Trae Young, he has been that and more. Bleacher Report NBA analyst Zach Buckley named Daniels as the biggest surprise on the Hawks this season:

"When Atlanta added Dyson Daniels as part of this summer's Dejounte Murray deal with New Orleans, it knew it was getting a young player with exciting potential on the defensive end.

The Hawks almost certainly didn't see this level of defensive disruption coming, though. Daniels, who might have basketball's best nickname as The Great Barrier Thief, has played as if there's a magnetic connection between his hands and the ball.

His 3.2 steals per contest not only lead the league, but they're also on course to be a top-10 average of all time. His 102 deflections—37 more than anyone else—are already near one-third of the way toward the 315 deflections Robert Covington tallied in 2017-18, the highest mark since the NBA made hustle stats public in 2015-16."

If there is one thing that Daniels is still working on, it is consistency on offense. Daniels is shooting 28% from three right now and the Hawks have a real spacing issue right now when it comes to shooting. If Daniels can begin to shoot better from three, he will be one of the most impactful two way-players in the entire NBA.

After a win vs the Wizards earlier this season, Hawks star point Trae Young had a lot of praise for Daniels, something that has become a regular occurrence after the Hawks:

"Yeah I mean I see first team defense I mean as many years as he wants to, as many years as he's playing and yeah I mean you're going to see what he's able to do now that he has the opportunity to play a lot. I mean, offensively, it's not forced on him. He doesn't have to force anything. He just allows the game to come to him and that's what makes it easier for everybody. I mean, I can shoot not really good at all and he can still go out here and play really well just because he's letting the game come to him and just playing off each other, off us, offensively and defensively, we're just playing on him. So I mean, that's what we love from him."

Additional Links:

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