Hawks guard Dyson Daniels is this year’s Most Improved Player, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Daniels blossomed after coming to Atlanta in an offseason trade. He became a full-time starter for the first time in his third NBA season and posted career highs with 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 76 games with .493/.340/.593 shooting splits.
With 229 steals, Daniels led the league by a wide margin and was named as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as Most Improved.
Daniels captured 44 first-place votes, 36 for second place and four for third to easily win the award with 332 total points.
The other finalists were Clippers center Ivica Zubac (23-18-17-186) and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (15-11-14-122).
Nuggets guard Christian Braun (9-15-30-120) and Lakers guard Austin Reaves (8-4-12-39) rounded out the top five.
Also receiving first-place votes were Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, Rockets swingman Amen Thompson, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Heat guard Tyler Herro and Bulls guard Josh Giddey.
In total, 14 players showed up on at least one ballot. The full voting results can be viewed here.
The Pelicans selected Daniels with the eighth pick in the 2022 draft, but he wasn’t able to fully develop his game in two seasons with New Orleans. That changed after he was sent to Atlanta last July in a trade for Dejounte Murray. As a 6’8″ defensive specialist, Daniels was a perfect fit alongside Trae Young in the Hawks’ backcourt, and playing alongside Young helped him significantly improve his shooting numbers.
Daniels, 22, will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
By VORP, improvement from last season:
Daniels: 0.9 to 2.3
Zubac: 1.3 to 3.4
Cunningham: 1.2 to 3.7
Big swing and a miss on this one.
Good things happen to people who leave the cursed voodoo NBA franchise. So happy for him. He earned it and is a big building block in ATL.
It kinda makes me sad that I agree with Davey. I don’t care about the VORP as VORP is affected by team success but Cunningham and Zubac were better players and improved dramatically. Daniels basically just got a chance to start instead of coming off the bench.
I too agree with him (too bad he’ll never know since I’m already muted!).
This is one of those silly cases where I think they shied away from giving it to an already established name and expected future star and instead gave it to someone who wasn’t a household name coming into the season. But the numbers don’t lie. Not Cade’s individual advanced metrics nor the Pistons huge jump in the standings.
DaveyJ is definitely right about this one.
They should nickname him the vacuum cleaner because he vacuums up steals and rebounds…get it? Hit like if you get it
Daniels already has one of best nicknames in the league. “The Great Barrier Thief.”
The plunderer from down underer
Once again the uninformed Curry shorts lover. Has no clue what this award signifies. What can you expect from a person who thinks the NBA was built for the Warriors. A team whose history he doesn’t even know ………
link to google.com
Its based on your improvement as a player over the yr or yrs. It means as a defensive and offensive player. It means how you impact your team. Its not just one stat. Its who has leveled up the most as a player and team player. FankenStein is still learning the game ……..
link to google.com
Of all the people up for this award no one had a bigger impact on team success than Cunningham.
But this isn’t a team award, it’s literally an individual award? most improved player. Dyson was the most improved player out of the three finalists. Zubac was good but he has been steady his entire career. Cade was more vital to the team’s success but Dyson broke out and probably will be 1st team defense this year and he is coming along offensively.
raz427 said:
> But this isn’t a team award, it’s literally an individual award?
raz, No, that’s incorrect. The NBA explicitly names BOTH team and individual as the criteria, which is why it so obviously belongs to Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons improved by 29 wins, a jump that typically happens 1 time per decade, and Cunningham was by far their best player.
Cunningham made the jump from, statistically, an average player to an All-Star. He projects to be either a 2nd or 3rd team All-NBA for this past 2024-25 season. A jump into the superstar category rarely happens so suddenly.
In the last 25 years of this award, there has never been this bad a selection for the award.
Congratulations Dyson. Made a big leap this year.
Future is bright for a 2way talent.
Dyson was terrific. Austin Reaves made huge strides. Zubac had a flukey year due to circumstances of his particular team.!I doubt he repeats these feats. A lot guys deserve mention here, but….
Cade Cunningham went from star to superstar… that’s the hardest leap to make. Leaps and bounds from last year. He had my vote.
Booga, I agree strongly with your take on Cade. I’d add that Cade wasn’t quite a “star” last year, so his improvement to this year is even bigger.
Cade had flashes of offensive brilliance last year, but, statistically he was, at best, he was still an average NBA point guard. This year, he was more consistent offensively and became a consistently strong defender.
Dice definitely should have won DPOY but the league gave the Cavs a team award. He should be our starting 2 for years to come & his #s should actually take another pretty significant leap if/when we trade Trae this off-season. I especially love the Dice/Jalen combo. Possibly the best young 2way guard/forward duo in the league.
Great selection, and a great nickname to boot.
Cade no, incremental sure.
Ivan, maybe but he was good last year.
Dyson made the biggest jump. He wasn’t even a starter last year.
MIP… Braun or Reaves.
I am just glad it wasnt Cade Cunningham