Daniels beat out fellow finalists Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons and Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers to win the George Mikan Trophy for the NBA participant who displayed essentially the most enchancment. The entire third-year guard’s numbers went approach up with the Hawks, each his totals and his percentages.
His scoring went from 5.8 factors to 14.1, his rebounds from 3.9 to five.9, his assists from 2.7 to 4.4 and his steals went from 1.4 to a league-leading three per recreation. Not solely did he lead the NBA in steals, he was the primary qualifying participant to common three steals once more since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91.
Daniels had a case to be named Defensive Participant of the Yr this season as properly, attributable to how disruptive his protection has been and the way far forward of the pack he’s. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was second in steals with 131. Daniels had practically 100 greater than that, ending with 229.
It is a comparable story in the case of deflections. Daniels led the NBA with 443 deflections. The following closest participant was Keon Ellis with 272, that means Daniels had 63 % extra deflections than his closest competitors.
Whereas the protection alone confirmed great enchancment, Daniels additionally shot practically 50 % from the sphere and upped his three-point proportion from 31 % to 34 % and sank 100 extra three-pointers.
The Pelicans drafted Daniels with the No. 8 choose within the 2022 draft, however he merely did not get alternatives in New Orleans. Given an opportunity to thrive in Atlanta, he is trying like a foundational piece for his or her future, alongside Jalen Johnson and prime total choose Zaccharie Risacher. And since Daniels solely turned 22 in March, this season seemingly will not be the top of his enchancment.
