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Oct 6, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) shoots the ball as Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (12) defends during the third quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Dyson Daniels Given Top Defensive Honor By NBA General Managers

Originally posted on Atlanta Hawks on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 7:46 PM ET

A year ago, not many NBA fans knew about Dyson Daniels, but after the breakout season that he had with the Atlanta Hawks, he is becoming a leaguewide figure known for his defensive ability.

Daniels out together one of the best defensive seasons ever for a guard, finishing in second place in the defensive player of the year voting and winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award. The scary thing for the rest of the NBA is that it was only the first season for Daniels as a starter in the league. With more experience under his belt, the follow up season should be just as good.

General Managers Survey

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Daniels put the league on notice for his defensive performance last season and in the yearly survey of NBA general managers, Daniels was voted as the league's top perimeter defender. He finished just ahead of Amen Thompson, Alex Caruso, and Lu Dort.

Daniels owned a league-best 3.01 steals per game this past season, the first player to average over 3.0 steals per game since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91. He swiped 229 total steals, the most thefts in a single season in franchise history and the most by any player in the NBA since 1996 Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton (231, 1995-96). The third-year guard owned 98 more steals than the next closest player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 131), marking the largest gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in NBA history. He finished the season with a steal-to-foul ratio of 1.31 (229 steals to 175 fouls), the ninth-best steal-to-foul ratio since 1973-74 and the best by any player in the league since Allen Iverson in 2002-03 (1.51).

Behind Daniels’ defensive presence, the Hawks improved their defensive rating from 118.4 in 2023-24 (27th in NBA) to 114.8 (18th in NBA), per NBA.com/Stats, a 3.6 improvement and the sixth-best improvement by any team this past season. Atlanta recorded 48 games with 10-or-more steals this past season, the most such games by any team in the NBA and the second-most such games in a single season in franchise history (1993-94, 56).

At 22 years and six days, the two-time Defensive Player of the Month recipient became the youngest player in the NBA since at least 1973-74 to tally at least 200 steals in a single season, surpassing Magic Johnson in 1981-82 (22 years, 240 days). In addition to his league-best 229 steals, Daniels also recorded 55 blocks, leading the entire league with a total of 284 stocks (steals + blocks). He became the first guard to lead the NBA in total stocks since 1988 Defensive Player of the Year Michael Jordan (390, 1987-88).

Daniels became the first player in the NBA to tally 200+ steals and 50+ blocks in a single season since Scottie Pippen in 1994-95, and just the seventh player in the NBA to do so since 1973-74, joining Hall-of-Famers Clyde Drexler (3x), Michael Jordan (6x), Hakeem Olajuwon and Pippen (3x), as well as Ron Harper and Alvin Robertson.

The 6-7 guard recorded a league-best 444 total deflections during the 2024-25 campaign, the most deflections by any player since the NBA began tracking the statistic in 2015-16 and 167 more deflections than the next closest player this season (Keon Ellis: 277). Daniels owned an NBA-best 297 total stops (steals + blocks + offensive fouls drawn) and recovered 81 loose balls, the second-most by any player in the league this past season.