Dyson's 'underrated' skill sparking Hawks run

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His defence may have gotten off to a slow start and shooting numbers might be drastically down from last season but still Dyson Daniels' $100m extension looks like a bargain for the rising Atlanta Hawks.

The new-look Hawks are the hottest team in the NBA, winning six games in a row, spearheaded by the young core of Daniels and All-Star Jalen Johnson as well as big man Onyeka Okongwu but rejuvenated by trade deadline additions including CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert from the Washington Wizards and former Golden State Warrior Johnathan Kuminga.

Atlanta have climbed up to ninth in the Eastern Conference and sit just 2.5 games behind the all-important sixth-placed Orlando Magic and senior NBA writer at The Athletic and the co-host of The Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie, said Daniels has worked his way into having an impressive season.

"Dyson's been really interesting this year to be honest," Vecenie said on a recent episode of the Cut to the Jase podcast with NBL legend Jason Cadee.

"The three-point shot has like completely and utterly abandoned him in every way, shape and form. But I think that he's really worked his way into the year and kind of worked his way around working around the jumper that he, I think probably has just lost confidence in at this point.

"I think he's actually been really really good for them basically since that deal and since that move.

"It's funny like I think he's gotten a little bit better as he's gotten more like on-ball opportunity this year... there are so many examples I can think of in college basketball particularly this year, where guys have had to like step up into bigger offensive roles and their defensive game has tanked.

"I kind of think that in Dyson's case, it's been like a little bit more the opposite, where I I think he's just gotten better on both ends throughout the course of the year.

"I'm totally speculating, I'm not I just want to make that clear I'm not breaking news or anything like that... maybe he was dealing with something that was like behind the scenes injury-wise early in the year, maybe there was something going on personally.

"Maybe the shooting kind of got in his head a little bit to start the year and he kind of got down a little bit and as the Trae Young trades happens, he gets a chance then to move more on the ball and gets a chance to play.

"He's been outstanding uh over the course of the last like 25 or so games at the very least."

Daniels' three-point shooting percentage has plummeted from 34% last season to just 13.5% this season, connecting on only 12 shots from beyond the arc on 89 attempts in 61 games.

But the Australian Boomers backcourt star has impressed with his playmaking ability, especially since the departure of Trae Young to the Wizards in the deal for McCollum and Kispert.

His assists numbers have climbed from 4.4 last season to 6.1 per game and his rebounding numbers are also up from 5.9 to 6.6 per game.

Vecenie said he believed Daniels' playmaking ability was "underrated".

"You can see it, the assist numbers go up, like in those last five games (he'd had) eight assists, seven assists, 11 assists, seven assists, right? He is still not a massive scorer of the basketball, but I've always thought that his pick and roll ability is a little bit underrated.

"I've always felt like he can see all of the reads and make all the decisions that he has to.

"Defensively, he's outstanding. I actually didn't love his defensive game to start the year and he's worked his way into it to the point where... I really thought about him for All-Defence again. I probably wouldn't have him there right now, but if by the end of the year he ends up there, it wouldn't blow my mind at all, I think he has a real shot.

"So I love the way he's defended, I love the way he's been able to work his way into the season offensively.

"He's a guy that when he signed that deal I thought 'oh that's a steal for Atlanta' and then he played for the first 40 games of the year and I was like 'oh maybe this is bad for Atlanta' and then the last 25 or so games, I think he's been really good, so I think it's looking like a deal that's going to age well for them at the end of the day."

Vecenie also said the Hawks have a strong chance of making it to sixth spot as their schedule "eases up".