Centre of attention: NBA's defensive trend on Dyson

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We all know Dyson Daniels is one of the best defensive talents in the NBA but his offensive game is still a work in progress and his opponents are finding new ways to test him out.

Kevin Chouinard, a writer for Hawks.com, identified a recent trend of teams guarding Daniels with their big men, in an attempt to disrupt the Atlanta Hawks spacing on the offensive end and force the 22-year-old into beating them from the perimeter.

In the two games before Atlanta's upset loss to the Washington Wizards, the New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets both started their match-ups with their centres on Daniels.

Lucky the Boomers backcourt star is coached by one of the best offensive tacticians in the NBA in Quin Snyder, who made several adjustments to put Daniels in damaging positions, and it worked.

Daniels saw time playing pick and roll against the opponent's big, playing off the ball in the strong side corner and even in the dunker spot.

Last season's Most Improved Player had 14 points and four assists in an easy win against the Pelicans followed by 22 points and six assists in a victory over the Hornets - proving Daniels is developing a reputation as a Mr Fix It across the league having been used in different roles, including as the primary ball handler in the absense of Trae Young.

"It's about mixing it up you know," Daniels said following the win over Charlotte.

"If they're dropping, it's about keeping taking the shots, and I made one, the last three. The drops (in pick and roll defence) it's about getting in the paint, creating for myself, creating for others and yeah, if they're going to be that far off me, then we can use that to our advantage with me setting screens and getting guys like (Jalen Johnson) downhill.

"I'm able to play in the pocket, use my floater and stuff like that.

"There are a lot of ways to work around that when they're dropped off me like that, it's just about exploiting that match-up. But for me, it's about getting in the gym making sure that I can become comfortable shooting those threes, so they do have to respect me more out there.

"I've also got to take them with confidence and knock them down."

Snyder said his team did a great job handling those defensive schemes in those two games.

"I think sometimes teams want to bait you into an early shot," he said of the defensive trend on Daniels.

"We were playing pick and roll with their (centre) defensively in the early part of the game... The way we play, our spacing is a bit random at times.

"I think one of the things you found is Dyson in the strong corner. We're kind of on the edge there. Under but not deep under the basket, and that allowed him to play off of other people.

"You've got to stay aggressive, whether it's taking a shot or driving to the basket.

"I think he made some really good decisions in (the paint) too. It's crowded in there. Sometimes it was just the threat of him passing it out that created a shot."

In the Hawks' latest game, a loss to the Wizards, Washington spent majority of the game defending him with Khris Middleton who played off the Aussie and it caused real issues for Atlanta's offence.

So while there's been some positive signs, it's still a work in progress, and the only way Daniels will put it to bed completely isto become a consistent three-point shooter.