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Dyson Daniels continues to impress throughout the season with his defense, and he even has his teammates in awe of what he's doing. One of those teammates is Clint Capela, who mans the paint for the Hawks and lets Daniels roam around the perimeter.
“The way he does it is just something that I’ve never seen my whole career,” Capela said via Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“This what he does every night,” Capela continued. “But, what really shocked me is that he was really doing it against every time the best player that he was guarding, guys like Jayson Tatum and other guys. It was so impressive that he was able to get that many steals, even against Sacramento. … I’m, like, ‘How did you do that? … So, all props to him, and I can’t wait for him to show us even more this season.”
Daniels has made it hard for almost every player he guards on a nightly basis, and he's going up against some of the best offensive players in the league. Defensively, Daniels is probably the best in the league, as he's first in steals and deflections.
It would not be a surprise if Daniels ends up being a in the Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year conversations at the end of the year.
Hawks in awe of Dyson Daniels' defense
Earlier this season, more of the Hawks players shared what they thought about Dyson Daniels' defense.
“I see First-Team All-Defense as many years as he wants to,” Trae Young said. “You can see what he’s able to do now, he has the opportunity to play a lot. Offensively, it’s not forced on him. He just allows the game to come to him, and that’s what makes it easier for everybody. I can shoot not really good at all, and he can still go out there and play really well. He’s letting the game come to him. He’s playing off of us offensively and defensively we’re playing off of him. That’s what we love from him and we’re going to need him to keep doing it.”
“I think when you're out there on the floor with him, it can't help but raise your level as well,” Quin Snyder said. “It's something we've worked on. [Jalen Johnson] has gotten better defensively. He's the one that I've been pushing hard, and he wants that. I think some of that too is, JJ [says] “This is a way that I can get better.] So Dyson's impact, he impacts in a lot of different ways. He impacts his teammates. He certainly impacts his matchup. He impacts off the ball as well.”
“The more steals I get the more I’m out in transition,” Daniels said. “That’s how most of my points are coming is breaking the paint, getting in transition, and getting to the rim. Just playing free, being myself, making plays on the defensive end. On the offensive side, guys like Trae and [Jalen] are finding me on cuts and getting downhill.
