'Hawks' Dyson Daniels claims Most Improved Player accolade'
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, who recorded the highest number of steals in a single NBA season in the past 34 years, was announced as the league's Most Improved Player for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday. As a result, he was presented with the prestigious George Mikan Trophy.
The 22-year-old Australian received 44 out of a possible 100 first-place votes and was mentioned on 84 ballots by the global media panel, earning a total of 332 points. Ivica Zubac, the big man for the Los Angeles Clippers, came in second with 186 points, while Cade Cunningham, the point guard for the Detroit Pistons, took third place with 122 points.
Daniels, who was a crucial part of the offseason trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that brought four players and two first-round draft picks to the Hawks in exchange for Dejounte Murray, had a breakout season as a starter.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound guard averaged 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.0 steals in 33.8 minutes per game over 76 regular-season games. This was a significant improvement from his stats of 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 steals in 22.3 minutes per game for the Pelicans in the 2023-24 season.
Daniels also became only the fifth player in NBA history to maintain an average of at least 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals for an entire season, joining the ranks of legends such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Michael Ray Richardson, and Alvin Robertson.
No player in the NBA had recorded an average of three steals since Robertson's 3.0 per game for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1990-91 season. Daniels, who also had an average of 0.7 blocks per game, came in second in the voting for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award, behind Cleveland's Evan Mobley.
Zubac, who is 28 years old, had a significant increase in his stats in his fifth season as the starting center for the Clippers, with an average of 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. This was a considerable jump from his stats of 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in the previous season.
Cunningham, who was the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, earned his first All-Star Game selection by averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game, leading the Pistons to their first playoff appearance since 2019. In the previous season, the 23-year-old point guard had averages of 22.7 points, 7.5 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game.
