The Atlanta Hawks have stacked their roster with shot creators, and Dyson Daniels is starting to look like the piece that holds the whole thing together. After a breakout 2024-25 season, Daniels has kept filling a different kind of role in 2025-26, one that does not depend on him carrying the offense but makes the rest of the lineup work more cleanly.
That matters because Atlanta now has multiple high-usage scorers around him, including Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga. Daniels, 22, fits as complementary talent in that mix, especially after a season in which he led the NBA in steals, won Most Improved Player, made All-Defensive First Team and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
His shooting remains the obvious pressure point. Daniels is at 19.0 percent from beyond the arc in 2025-26, which is 12.1 percent below his previous career low. Through his first 65 appearances, he had made only 12 threes and was shooting 12.9 percent from long range. That is not the profile of a finished perimeter threat, and it is why Atlanta still has to work around him rather than through him.
Read Also: Nickeil Alexander-walker Helps Hawks Secure Top 10 2026 Pick
But the last nine games have shown a different version. Daniels has made 10 three-point field goals over that stretch and has shot.556/.435/.692, a swing that at least suggests his offensive game is not standing still. He has evolved in other phases as well, and the Hawks are finding that his value is not limited to steals and stops.
Read Also: Jalen Johnson and the Hawks are closing in on an NBA playoff berth
The friction is obvious: a player known first for defense and improved all-around impact is still searching for consistency from deep. Even so, Daniels is becoming the kind of connector Atlanta needs as its shot makers keep multiplying, a player who can help bind the Hawks' moving pieces when the scoring loads shift from one night to the next.
