Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, who posted the NBA’s highest steals average in 34 seasons, was named the league’s 2024-25 Most Improved Player on Wednesday and rewarded with the George Mikan Trophy.
The 22-year-old Australia native received 44 of a possible 100 first-place votes and was listed on 84 ballots by the global media panel while totalling 332 points. Los Angeles Clippers big man Ivica Zubac finished a distant second (186 points) while Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham took the third (122) spot.
Daniels, a key part of the offseason trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that brought four players and two first-round draft picks to the Hawks in exchange for Dejounte Murray, blossomed in his first year as a starter.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound guard averaged 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals in 33.8 minutes per game over 76 regular-season games — a marked improvement over his 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 22.3 minutes per game for the Pelicans in 2023-24.
Daniels also became the fifth player in NBA history to average at least 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for a full season, joining Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Michael Ray Richardson and Alvin Robertson.
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No NBA player had averaged three steals since Robertson posted 3.0 per game for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1990-91. Daniels, who also blocked 0.7 shots per game, finished second to Cleveland’s Evan Mobley in the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year balloting.
The 28-year-old Zubac averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds in his fifth season as the Clippers’ starting center — a healthy jump from last season’s 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Cunningham, the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, earned his first All-Star Game nod for averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game while leading the Pistons to their first playoff berth since 2019. The 23-year-old point guard produced 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game the season before.