New details from the Hawks’ Dyson Daniels trade are emerging

On By Littum

The Hawks are finally building a roster that complements itself rather than chasing All-Stars, and that began this offseason with the Dejounte Murray trade that brought Dyson Daniels to Atlanta.

A foundation has been laid and there is a clear timeline. Every critical piece of the club is younger than 26 years old – Trae Young (26), Dyson Daniels (21), Zaccharie Risacher (19), De’Andre Hunter (26), Jalen Johnson (22) and Onyeka Okongwu (23) ) .

More importantly, there is a rhyme and reason to the construction of the list. Each player has a specific role, and unlike the Young-Murray era, there are very few redundant skill sets. But most importantly, the Hawks have filled the critical void of a defensive specialist with Dyson Daniels.

Daniels currently leads the league in steals per game. game with an insane 3.7, which has improved Atlanta’s defense in a remarkable way. Dyson saves nearly four points per 100 possessions for the Hawks when he’s on the court.

So it’s not shocking that the Pelicans didn’t want to include him in the trade for Dejounte Murray while the Hawks demanded he be part of the deal

“The Pelicans weren’t eager to trade Daniels in the package for Murray last summer and tried to keep him out of the deal, sources said, but the Hawks strongly wanted someone who could help protect Young on defense.” Brian Windhorst wrote.

“He’s not a great shooter – his 27% 3-point percentage and 53% free-throw percentage tell that story – but internally the Hawks have raved about his attitude and work ethic after playing in the Olympics with Australia. And now there may be a potential “Defensive Player of the Year” on the way,” continues Windhorst.

While Windhorst is right about his efficiency, Dyson Daniels is not a zero on the offensive end. Through 12 games, he has almost tripled his points per game. game from last season to 15.0 points while averaging career highs in assists (3.0) and rebounds (4.6).

The Hawks got another pillar to the foundation in Dyson Daniels. It looks bad right now for the Pels, but this could easily be a win-win situation once Dejounte Murray gets healthy.

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Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire