The Hawks are floating around a .500 record, as they have in every season since their Eastern Conference Finals run, and no fans should be surprised when they finish in the same range this season.
There’s a stark difference, though. Expectations coming into the season were much lower following the Dejounte Murray trade. The most encouraging aspect of the entire 2024-25 campaign should be the foundation being built the right way. Trae Young, as the centerpiece, finally has ancillary pieces that complement his style of play. Hell, I wouldn’t even consider Jalen Johnson a complementary piece; he’s a bonafide star.
Meanwhile, De’Andre Hunter has seemingly found his niche coming off the bench, putting up the best numbers of his career, but the piece that has really expedited the post-Dejounte Murray rebuild is Dyson Daniels.
The former first-round pick never blossomed in New Orleans, and many didn’t even bat an eye when he was included in the trade that netted the Pelicans Murray. However, in an expanded role, one that accentuates his skill sets, he’s having the best year of his career, surprising league insiders and Hawks fans alike.
Dyson Daniels ended up making Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst’s list of most surprising first-half performers:
“Daniels is playing a career-high 33 minutes per game for the Hawks after being stuck mostly on the bench the past two seasons in New Orleans, and with more shooting around him and a bigger role, his confidence on offense has grown dramatically, even as his shooting remains a work in progress.
At the same time, he’s also leading the league in steals with 3.1 per game. And in one of the most remarkable defensive stats across the league, Daniels has 90 more deflections than De’Aaron Fox, who is second.”
“So much of him, for me, is he’s in a way better fit than he was in New Orleans,” a scout said. “He never really got the opportunity to play there, and the fit was always bad. Now, he’s playing with way more confidence in a way better environment.”
The Hawks are just a couple of games out of a top six seed, but most likely, they’ll be in the play-in once again. Still, it’s a different feeling than when the Hawks failed to secure a top six seed with Dejounte Murray and Trae Young.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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