‘The Great Barrier Thief ‘, a nod to his roots in Australia and defensive prowess came out on top.
No one has made a bigger jump during the 2024-25 season in the eyes and opinion of NBA awards voters than Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks.
Daniels was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year on Wednesday earning 44 first-place votes and 332 total points. He defeated fellow finalists Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons (15 first-place votes and 122 total points) and Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers (23 first-place votes and 186 points) in the process.
Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun and Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves rounded out the top five.
Despite Daniels’ win, Cunningham established himself as one of the contenders in the early going of the season. While the Pistons star was already the leader on the floor and the face of the franchise, he took a seismic leap in his fourth campaign out of Oklahoma State.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat is not to say the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NBA draft and former Rookie of the Year was not special in his own right in 2023-24.
He averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from 3-point range last season. He appeared in 62 games and was impressive to say the least and looked the part of a franchise cornerstone.
However, the Pistons finished with the worst record in the league at 14-68, and fired their coach, Monty Williams.
It was a complete turnaround this year, and Cunningham’s immense improvement had plenty to do with it.
The guard made the first All-Star Game of his career as he helped spur Detroit into the playoff picture. The franchise was among the worst in the league for the previous five seasons but finally took the huge strides it envisioned when it selected the Oklahoma State product with the No. 1 pick.
Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from deep and went from good to great while competing for a playoff spot and this award.
However, he wasn’t the only one in the Eastern Conference who helped their team compete while showing significant improvement individually.
Daniels went from a solid bench piece for the Hawks in 2023-24 to a significant starter who routinely filled up the stat sheet. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and a league-best 3.0 steals per game while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from perimeter.
His harassing defense, in particular, stood out among the pack, as he is one of the best players in the league on that end of the court who can effectively sit down in the chair and guard multiple positions.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder told anyone who would listen about Daniels should be recognized as the league’s top defensive player but also took note of the young guard’s overall gains.
“I think his ability to be as effective as he is on the ball, you see that and feel that,” Snyder said. “I think also his ability to drive the ball. So, to me, those two things are his aggressiveness. And in order to be aggressive, you have to be fearless. So, I think maybe the biggest thing that I wanted to try to communicate to Dyson to the extent we can instill something in someone is don’t be afraid to make a mistake.”
While players such as Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who captured the Defensive Player of the Year Award last week, also took strides this season, the Eastern Conference was not the only place where notable improvement was made.
Zubac helped lead the Los Angeles Clippers to the playoffs with career-high averages in points (16.8) and rebounds (12.6). Beyond the double-double stats, he also anchored the Clippers’ interior defense and battled with some of the best bigs in the league.
Zubac was already a solid player before this season and averaged double-digit scoring totals in the previous three campaigns as well.
Still, he was more integral to the Clippers’ overall playoff push than ever before in 2024-25 and proved as much with his jump in his overall numbers.
Ultimately, though, Daniels took home the award after his own excellent season.
