‘I’m unique’: Dyson Daniels on his NBA niche, missing three-pointers… and investing tips
He is a shooting guard that doesn’t often shoot,A wing deployed less for lift than pressure,The style of Australia’s best basketballer, Dyson Daniels, is difficult to describe,“It’s kind of hard for me to describe it too,” he says,“It’s unique.
”He runs the point, and rebounds to make another,And, yes, he is perhaps the NBA’s best defender,“It’s different every game, put it that way,”The 23-year-old is in the MCG members room at the Victorian Sport Awards on Wednesday evening receiving a trophy for athletic excellence named after a former state politician,Some things are hard to explain.
Others are worth the effort,Since the success of the Golden State Warriors a decade ago, propelled by sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the NBA’s three-point shot has been central to the stratégie du jour,The thinking was that if players can only shoot a two-pointer at a rate a little better than one time in every two attempts, they might as well try from three-point range … even if they shoot a slightly lower percentage from further out,Say 38%,Even 35%.
It was simple risk v reward.By that worldview, Daniels’ shooting slump this season – his three-point success rate was 19%, one of the worst marks in the league – should make him unplayable as a player that spends most of his time beyond the three-point line.But thanks to his defence, rebounding, and transition play, as well as effectiveness as an unconventional offensive playmaker, he has become one of the most important contributors for the resurgent Hawks.Atlanta pushed the formidable New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs before succumbing in six games, despite trading away their franchise point guard in January.Daniels, back home in Australia on his brief off-season, remains his own critic.
“I’m pretty disappointed with how the season went to be honest – and it’s from an individual standpoint, I think our team really took a step,” he says,“I didn’t shoot the ball how I wanted to this year,”He still found ways to be effective,Rather than take shots, Daniels would increasingly hand the ball to teammates, then obstruct the defence to given them an opportunity to shoot,It was a formula that seemed to work.
“We found a lot of success in that as well,” he says,In the NBA, however, a single strategy is quickly exposed,And so Daniels leaned on his cascade of counters,“Sometimes when I’m the playmaker, [the defence is] so far off I can just see everything and play free,A few teams will try to take that away and put a lot of pressure on me, and that’s when I can become more of a downhill playmaker and get to the rim and find teammates that way,” he says.
“I think my playmaking really took a step this year, it’s just obviously [improving] the shooting will open everything up, so that’s going to be a big focus for me this off-season,”If Daniels’ shooting develops, he could become one of basketball’s elite two-way players,Yet no longer does every road lead to the three-point line,Amid the emergence of the relentless, physical defences in Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Detroit, stopping shots – not just taking them – is in vogue,That’s Daniels’ bread and butter, having been named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team last season in a year he also won the league’s Most Improved Player award.
Not long after he signed a contract that will see his annual salary rise from US$7.7m ($10.6m) to US$25m ($34.5m) in July.This lofty income bracket is reserved for only the most elite in Australian sport, including Formula One driver Oscar Piastri, golfer Cameron Smith and Daniels’ Boomers teammate Josh Giddey.
Shooter or not, Daniels is valued handsomely.Four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, visiting Australia for the NBA House promotion in Port Melbourne this week, describes Daniels’ worth succinctly: “What he does on the defensive side of the ball, he’s already carved out his niche in his league, so everything else is just a plus.”Daniels first pay cheque on his new deal arrives in two months.“It’s good to have that guaranteed money and security, but it comes with a lot of other things too, a lot of responsibility and decision making,” he says.He wants to help find his parents the right house, and continue to build his share and property portfolio.
Not even a personal briefing from his Boomers teammate and tech-bro Matthew Dellavedova, however, managed to steer him towards more alternative asset classes.“I’m bit iffy on Bitcoin,” Daniels says.“Once, he [Dellavedova] got a hold of me, he sat me down for a good hour and gave me the presentation, so I’m a bit iffy on that.”Florida has been the focus of Daniels’ real estate investments so far.He says he hasn’t looked extensively at opportunities in Australia, but is aware of the changes to negative gearing in Tuesday’s budget.
“You’ve got to look at that carefully,” he says.“But yeah, I mean, it’s all risk and reward.”
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