Young Atlanta Hawks Star Receives Surprising Contract Prediction

It is hard to find a player who helped himself more this season than Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels. The Hawks acquired Daniels in the Dejounte Murray trade last offseason and all Daniels did was win the NBA's Most Improved Player award and finish as a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year, while also being a first-team All-Defensive Player. Daniels is up for his rookie-scale extension this offseason and with the season he just had, Daniels has likely earned himself a big extension.

What exactly will the extension look like though? Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus was discussing the Hawks biggest financial decision this summer and gave a prediction for Daniels contract:

2024-25 result: 40-42, play-in record 1-1
2025 draft: Nos. 13, 22
Starting payroll: $151.7 million (over the cap)
Exceptions: NTMLE, BAE, $25.2 million TPE (Dejounte Murray), $13.1 million TPE (Bogdan Bogdanović)
Minimum payroll: $147.2 million ($7.4 million in space)
Likely max: $187.9 million (under tax)

"Will Atlanta stay committed to Trae Young? What about free agents Clint Capela and Caris LeVert? Does a healthy Jalen Johnson propel this team into playoff contention?

The Hawks recently parted ways with general manager Landry Fields and replaced him with Onsi Saleh. They're now looking for a top basketball executive who will likely decide the answers to those questions and more.

Atlanta's toughest decision will be finding the correct number for a long-term commitment to Dyson Daniels, who won the Most Improved Player award and came in second for Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Daniels, who is extension-eligible until the start of the 2025-26 regular season, will undoubtedly expect to be rewarded for his impact. He's only 22 and figures to be fairly expensive."

Projection: Daniels gets at least $94 million over four years.

If I had to guess, Daniels is going to make more than $94 million over four years. If you are looking for a good comp as far as contract and player type, the extension the Magic gave Jalen Suggs is one to look at. Orlando gave Suggs a five-year, $150.5 million dollar before the start of this season and while I don't think Daniels will get that, I think it could be slightly lower than that. If the Hawks were somehow able to get him at this number, it would be a massive win for the front office. Daniels has been the perfect backcourt mate for Trae Young and still has plenty of room to grown.

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 season.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Daniels recorded a 3.7 steal percentage, ranking in the 100th percentile for combo guards in 2024-25. He also owned a 4.6 offensive rebound percentage (field goals), ranking in the 92nd percentile for all combo guards this past season and a 12.5 defensive rebound percentage (field goals), ranking in the 84th percentile for combo guards.

The Bendigo, Australia, native secured 27 games with four-or-more steals this past season, the most such games in a single season since 1993-94 (Nate McMillan: 27) and 14 games with five-or-more steals, the most such games since 2010-11 (Chris Paul: 14). Daniels is currently riding a 52-game regular season streak with at least one steal, the second-longest such streak in franchise history and the longest by any player since 2017-18 (Victor Oladipo: 64).

Daniels, named the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Improved Player, also finished as runner-up for Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He was one of only two players to be a finalist for multiple Kia Performance awards this season, joining Nikola Jokic (Most Valuable Player, Clutch Player of the Year).

More Atlanta Hawks News: