The Atlanta Hawks have the 2024-25 Most Improved Player in shooting guard Dyson Daniels, and he just added another accolade to his resume.
Daniels was named to the 2024-25 All-Defensive First Team.
Moreover, Daniels received the second-most first-place votes, finishing behind only reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley. Daniels also finished behind Mobley for that award in a polarizing decision.
Daniels averaged a league-leading 3.0 assists during the regular season, the most by any player since former Hawks head coach Nate McMillan with the Seattle Supersonics in 1993-94.
Daniels called his shot, saying he wanted the toughest challenges on defense.
“I want to take the challenge of guarding the best player every night,” Daniels told reporters on September 30. “Just being out there being that, kind of that backbone for guys like Trae [Young]. Being able to switch things 1 through 4, defend bigger people, defend smaller guys. So, just being everywhere on the floor. I got a big goal this year of making First Team All-Defense. So, try to go there and make that happen.”
Notably, Young told Daniels to use his falling short for DPOY as motivation for the future, calling him the real winner.
Daniels had 98 more steals than the second-place finisher, the 2024-25 Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. That is the same gap from Gilgeous-Alexander to the swath of players ranked starting at 265th place on the board.
Daniels also boasted a league-leading 5.8 deflections per game.
It was hard to argue against Daniels as Defensive Player of the Year. It was rightfully impossible to leave him off the All-Defensive First Team.
Daniels is the first Hawks player to earn All-Defensive First Team honors since the late Dikembe Mutombo in 2000-01. The last Hawks player to earn a slot on either All-Defensive team was Paul Millsap in 2015-16.
Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher changing tide for Hawks
For years, the Hawks have had a case for being overlooked in awards and honors races. Even four-time All-Star Trae Young advanced beyond a two-timer thanks to injuries to those selected ahead of him.
Former No. 20 overall pick Jalen Johnson was a Most Improved candidate two years running, but injuries have prevented that from becoming reality.
Last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, earned All-Rookie First Team honors.
LIke Daniels with DPOY, Risacher was snubbed for Rookie of the Year, but he snapped a long-standing Hawks drought. With Daniels, Johnson, Risacher, Young, who will be 27 when the season begins, and center Onyeka Okongwu, the Hawks have an intriguing top line of players.
How they support that group, or even reconfigure it going forward, remains key to determining which direction the arrow on their trajectory is pointing.