Hawks’ Dyson Daniels wins NBA Most Improved Player
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels earned the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for the 2024-25 season.
After two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Daniels took a significant leap in his third campaign by posting career highs across the board with 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists while shooting 49.3 percent from the floor and 34.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Daniels joined Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Alvin Robertson, and Michael Ray Richardson as the only players to average at least 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game since the 1973-74 season.
Daniels finished atop with 332 total voting points, well past LA Clippers big man Ivica Zubac (186 points) and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (122 points). Meanwhile, Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun and Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves rounded out the top five players in voting.
The 22-year-old led the league with 229 steals, the most in a season since Hall of Famer Gary Payton had 231 in the 1995-96 campaign. His 3.0 steals per game were the highest average since Alvin Robertson posted 3.0 in the 1990-91 season.
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Hawks head coach Quin Snyder praised Daniels’ game-changing ability as a defensive factor.
“I think his ability to be as effective as he is on the ball, you see that and feel that,” Snyder said via ESPN. “I think also his ability to drive the ball. So to me, those two things are his aggressiveness. And in order to be aggressive, you have to be fearless. So I think maybe the biggest thing that I wanted to try to communicate to Dyson to the extent we can instill something in someone is don’t be afraid to make a mistake.”
