Trae Young On Dyson Daniels: "I See First Team Defense As Many Years As He Wants It"

Daniels leads the league in steals and deflections and has been one of the biggest stories in the NBA this season

Nov 15, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) shoots the ball against Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) during the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images / Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

There is a good argument one could make about Dyson Daniels being the most impactful addition in the NBA this offseason. Daniels leads the league in steals and deflections and has made a huge difference for the Atlanta Hawks on that end of the floor. The Hawks are still figuring everything else out on defense, but Daniels has raised the intensity levels of the team in a big way and is starting to get attention for how he is playing. After the game last night, Hawks star point Trae Young had a lot of praise for Daniels, something that has become a regular occurence 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."

Daniels has been the best player on the Hawks this season. Last night against Washington, Daniels had 25 points on 10-14 shooting and he had yet another game where he had six steals. With his statline, Daniels joined some elite company:

Dyson Daniels, currently with 21 points and five steals, has tallied 15+ points and 5+ steals in four straight games, the longest such streak since Michael Jordan did so during the 1989-90 season (3/21/90-3/26/90, also four games).

— Hawks PR (@HawksPR) November 16, 2024

Daniels has been incredible for the Hawks this season and has been everything they could have hoped for when they traded for him.

Young struggled shooting the ball last night, but it did not really matter. Some of that is the Hawks supporting cast is good around Young and some of it is the Wizards are pretty terrible. Young was 5-18 last night and aside from some three's, he struggled to get comfortable and find rhythm. It is no cause of concern, but Young has struggled in two of the three games vs the Wizards this year.