For his first two NBA seasons, Dyson Daniels was fighting just to get minutes off the bench in a crowded New Orleans guard rotation. He was improving, but not getting a chance to show off that growth.
Then this summer he was traded to Atlanta as part of the Dejounte Murray deal. Atlanta was starved for quality two-way wings and gave Daniels a legitimate chance — and he thrived.
He averaged 14.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game while playing elite defense, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Daniels improved his scoring by +8.3 points per game, rebounds by +2.0 per game, assists by +1.7 per game, and steals by +1.62 per game from last season.
All that earned him the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
Daniels got 44 first-place votes from the panel of 100 global media members who vote on the awards.
Clippers big man Ivica Zubac — who has had a standout playoffs after a great regular season — came in second in the voting (23 first-place votes), with Pistons star Cade Cunningham (15) third. The Nuggets’ Christian Braun (9) and the Lakers’ Austin Reaves (3) rounded out the top five.
When the award was announced on TNT’s Inside the NBA, the Bendigo, Australia, native did the interview from his home in the island nation — with his father making an appearance in the background.
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