{"id":706764,"date":"2026-04-09T17:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/706764\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T17:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:45:17","slug":"dyson-daniels-has-quietly-become-everything-the-hawks-need-him-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/706764\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyson Daniels has quietly become everything the Hawks need him to be"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Atlanta Hawks have built a roster with an eye-opening number of shot creators<\/a> capable of putting points on the board. That includes franchise player Jalen Johnson, standout guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and CJ McCollum, and up-and-coming forward Jonathan Kuminga.<\/p>\n

With no less than four players in need of significant scoring opportunities<\/a>, that’s made complementary talent all the more important. Thankfully, Dyson Daniels checks that crucial box.<\/p>\n

Daniels broke out in 2024-25, dominating as a defensive playmaker and shooting 34.0 percent from beyond the arc in a display of clear two-way value. He led the NBA in steals, won Most Improved Player, earned All-Defensive First Team honors, and finished second in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Daniels continues to be one of the best defenders in the NBA, but a lackluster three-point shooting campaign has led to many downplaying and even overlooking his offensive value.<\/p>\n

Daniels is shooting just 19.0 percent from beyond the arc in 2025-26\u2014a putrid number that sits 12.1 percent below his previous career-low. He’s quietly evolved<\/a> in other phases of the game, however, and has thus become the perfect player for a team that already has a handful of shot creators to feed.<\/p>\n

By improving as an offensive playmaker, sustaining his quality as an inside finisher, and even experiencing a recent uptick in three-point volume and efficiency, Daniels can be the glue that binds the Hawks’ moving pieces.<\/p>\n

Dyson Daniels is the low-maintenance pillar Hawks need next to scorers<\/p>\n

Daniels has converted 10 three-point field goals over his past nine games, shooting at a clip of .556\/.435\/.692. By comparison, he’d made 12 threes between his first 65 appearances in 2025-26, shooting a mind-boggling 12.9 percent from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

Even if his current rate of efficiency ultimately proves unsustainable, the simple fact that he’s attempting and converting jumpers again has given the Hawks an immeasurable boost.<\/p>\n

That only scratches the surface of how he’s become the perfect complement to the stars, however, as his evolution as a facilitator has been his most important development. He’s averaging a career-best 5.8 assists per game, which is up from his previous high of 4.4 in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

Daniels has increased his volume without becoming more prone to mistakes, actually improving his assist-to-turnover ratio from 2.15 a season ago to 3.26 in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Daniels is also shooting 47.0 percent on 10.0 drives per game, which is in line with his 2024-25 marks of 46.0 percent on 10.3 drives per game. Though his three-point shooting is still a question mark, all other signs point to him still being a top-tier two-way supporting wing.<\/p>\n

If Daniels’ jump shot truly is restored, the Hawks’ already elite starting lineup should be even more effective come the 2026 NBA Playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Hawks have built a roster with an eye-opening number of shot creators capable of putting points…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-706764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116375999212423409","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}