The Atlanta Hawks are not being picked as a major force in the Eastern Conference, and that part of the conversation is easy to understand. They don’t have the kind of star-driven roster other teams in the conference can point to, and their offseason was built more around short-term tweaks and future flexibility than headline-grabbing swings.
That makes internal growth the whole story, and no one looms larger in that equation than Dyson Daniels. If he can take even a meaningful step forward as a shooter, it changes the ceiling for Atlanta in a real way.
Right now, the shooting numbers are the issue. Daniels is four seasons into his NBA career, and he just posted a career-worst 18.8% from three on 1.5 attempts per game.
The Hawks basically had to live with him not taking the shot at all, and that hurt the offense. He finished in the 2nd percentile for three-point attempts, the 1st percentile for three-point percentage and the 5th percentile for free-throw percentage at 61.5%.
On the kinds of attempts meant to stretch the floor - spot-ups, off-screen looks and designed handoff plays - he shot 39.2%, which ranked in the 17th percentile for his position.
That’s a glaring problem. The question is why anyone should expect a quick jump from that level to something far more functional.
There is at least some evidence that Daniels can look better when the situation around him is right. In Atlanta, he was much more effective as a shooter when Trae Young was on the floor, hitting 36.4% from deep in those minutes during the 2024-25 season.
Without Young, that number dropped to 31.7%. The setup clearly helped, and for a while it looked like a possible sign of growth.
The fit with Jalen Johnson never clicked the same way. Last season, Daniels shot 17.9% with Johnson on the court and 21.9% without him.
Johnson, meanwhile, shot 34.2% with Daniels on the floor and 37.2% when Daniels sat. That was a real issue for Atlanta, especially because Johnson was the primary distributor and both players wanted to live in similar areas - around the rim and in the paint.
This season gives Daniels a different kind of environment. He’ll have a full year next to Kingston Flemings and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, two players who should lighten Johnson’s ball-handling load while still threatening defenses from deep.
Flemings is still something of a mystery in this setting, but Alexander-Walker already proved how useful he can be for spacing. He shot 62.8% on the same spot-up, off-screen and designed handoff looks that gave Daniels so much trouble, a mark that landed in the 95th percentile last season.
That didn’t magically fix Daniels’ shooting, but he still made 4% more of his threes when Alexander-Walker was on the floor.
Flemings could help in a different way. At Houston, he flashed precise passing that came from his vision as a playmaker, and that kind of read-and-react ability should pair well with Daniels, who is likely to see plenty of ignored possessions from opposing defenses.
As a rookie, Flemings may get more attention as a shooter because of his touch indicators - 84.5% at the line and 38% from deep on 3.3 attempts - even though Houston didn’t offer him much spacing to work with. If he becomes a reliable driver, that could create drive-and-kick chances for Daniels in the corner.
That spot has already been one of Daniels’ better areas; he shot 43.9% on corner threes in 2024-25 and 37.7% the season before, though on limited volume.
Still, the biggest reason to buy Daniels making progress is what Atlanta is asking him to do defensively. He was one of the league leaders in matchup difficulty, and that kind of assignment takes a toll.
With Lu Dort added, the Hawks now have two players who can credibly take on the opponent’s top perimeter scorer on a nightly basis. That should ease Daniels’ defensive load considerably.
There are other pieces that matter here, too. Flemings could be a solid defender as a rookie, and Atlanta also got a surprisingly strong defensive season from CJ McCollum.
It wouldn’t be fair to call the Hawks’ perimeter defense elite, or even very good, but it should be more stable and dependable than it was last season. That matters for Daniels because it can help him conserve energy, stay locked in on his shooting form and cash in on the open looks he’s going to get.
He also has Onyeka Okongwu alongside him as a shooting big, which means Daniels should usually be facing the least dangerous perimeter defender on the other side.
The bottom line is simple: Daniels doesn’t have to become a great shooter for the Hawks to climb. His passing, defense and offensive rebounding are already major assets. Atlanta just needs him to be passable, because he wasn’t that last season.
In Other News...
Hawks Send A Blunt Message About What Matters Most Now
The Hawks kept reshaping the back end of their roster this offseason, and Devin Carter became the latest reminder that nothing is guaranteed once a new front office starts sorting priorities. Atlanta waived the guard on Sept. 11, a move that came after Carter arrived from Sacramento and after the Hawks had already stacked up multiple offseason changes as they look toward a more competitive 2026-27 campaign.
Carter, the No. 13 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, had spent two NBA seasons in the league and showed steady improvement along the way. Even so, Atlantas decision suggests the team is focused on immediate fit and flexibility more than pedigree or draft-night value, a blunt message for a roster that still appears to be taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Vince Carter Called Out An NBA Habit Hawks Fans Will Recognize
Vince Carters latest recollection lands in a way Hawks fans and plenty of NBA watchers can immediately picture. He described how, later in his career, some teammates were reaching for their phones at halftime to see what social media was saying rather than staying locked in on the film and the adjustments waiting in the locker room.
The frustration in Carters account is easy to understand for anyone who has followed how the league has changed around its players. Social media reaction has become part of the daily rhythm of the NBA, and the league has since moved to curb phone use during games, allowing it only for emergency communication, a reminder of how much the balance between attention and distraction has shifted. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Young Core Ranking Shows Who Atlanta May Need Most
The Hawks young core is still taking shape, but the conversation starts with the players who can already influence winning in more than one way. Atlantas roster features a mix of rookies and developing pieces in Veesaar, Ejiofor, Newell, Gueye and Flemings, each bringing a different tool kit and a different timeline for becoming reliable NBA rotation players. Some offer size, some energy, some defensive upside, and all of them are being evaluated not just for what they can do now, but for how they fit alongside the teams established pieces.
Among that group, Dyson Daniels stands out as the most proven young presence on the roster, giving Atlanta a clear benchmark for the rest of the age-25-and-under crowd. His defensive value has already put him in a different category, which matters for a Hawks team trying to identify which prospects can complement a contenders core and which ones still need time. The more interesting question now is which of the newer faces can follow him and make the leap from intriguing prospect to real part of the answer. [Read more 🡒]