Dyson Daniels has one of the NBA’s best nicknames, was nearly the league’s top defender and can now say he is the NBA’s Most Improved Player for the 2024-25 season.
Daniels, who was born in Australia and is known as the “Great Barrier Thief,” exploded onto the scene for the Atlanta Hawks after two forgettable years in New Orleans. He beat out the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham and LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac for the NBA Most Improved Player honors on Wednesday, decided by a voting panel of 100 media members.
The announcement was made on TNT before Game 5 of the first-round playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets.
The 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Improved Player is… Dyson Daniels!#NBAAwards | #KiaMIP | @Kia pic.twitter.com/GSaRR2lDfy
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2025
Daniels was acquired by Atlanta in the trade for Dejounte Murray last summer and averaged 3.0 steals and 5.8 deflections per game — easily the most in the NBA in both categories — and his 229 total steals were the most since Gary Payton’s 231 steals in 1996, when Payton was named top defensive player. Daniels, 22, was runner up to Cleveland’s Evan Mobley for NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
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Before this season, Daniels made 27 starts and never averaged more than 5.8 points or 1.4 steals per game. With the Hawks, the 6-foot-7 wing started all 76 of his games and averaged 14.1 points and 5.9 rebounds to go with those gaudy steals and deflections numbers. He was the fifth player since 1973-74 to average at least 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals.
By comparison, the next closest player to Daniels in steals was Denver star Nikola Jokić and Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace at 1.8 steals per game, and Jokić was also second behind Daniels with 3.7 deflections per game. The Hawks’ defense was still poorly rated compared to the rest of the league (18th), but Daniels’ presence gave opponents fits on the perimeter and with trying to get the ball into the post. He gave Trae Young, who has a reputation as a poor defender, more cover than he had ever previously seen on defense.
Cunningham, the No. 1 pick of the 2021 draft who is already on a maximum contract extension, enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 campaign in which his already solid production increased across the board. He became an All-Star for the first time, and his Detroit Pistons became the first team in league history to triple its win total from one season to the next.
Not only was the regular season easily the best of Cunningham’s career, but he saw substantial increases in scoring (26.1 points per game), rebounding (6.1 rpg), assists (9.1 apg — fourth-highest average in the NBA) and field-goal percentage (46.9 percent) over last season. He was just the seventh player in league history to average at least 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds; he finished seventh in the league in scoring and his scoring average was the sixth highest in franchise history.
Zubac’s ninth season was easily his best. The Clippers center enjoyed career highs in scoring (16.8) and rebounds (12.6) and led the league in total rebounds. He peeled off 15 consecutive double doubles during the regular season, the longest streak in the league this season, and the Clippers outscored opponents by 514 points with Zubac on the court.
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The NBA will unveil its MVP and Coach of the Year in the near future. Individual award winners thus far include:
Rookie: Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Sixth Man: Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics
Defensive Player: Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
Clutch Player: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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