Why Australian Dyson Daniels is the 2025 DPOY

• Dyson Daniels records the most steals in a season this Millennium
• He led the league in deflections per game and total deflections
• Marcus Smart, the last guard to win DPOY, had just 128 steals in 2021-22

Australian guard Dyson Daniels just turned 22-years-old and is already the best on-ball defender in the NBA, therefore making him the best perimeter defender in the world, ergo the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Bendigo-born Daniels finished the regular season with 229 steals, averaging three per game over 76 games for the Play-In 40-42 Atlanta Hawks.

Daniels finished the regular season leading the NBA in:

• Steals (229)
• Steals per game (3.01)
• Total deflections (443)
• Deflections per game (5.8)
• Total stocks (284, steals + blocks)
• Total stops (297, steals + blocks + offensive fouls drawn)

The next closest in steals — it wasn't close — was OKC superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 131, Clippers Kris Dunn (128) and Denver's Nikola Jokić on 127. SGA and Jokić are the leading NBA MVP candidates.

Dyson Daniels 2024-25 Steals Tracker

Daniels' 229 steals is equal 20th for steals in a single season, tied Johnny Moore's mark in the 1984-85 season.

He is the first player since Scottie Pippen 30 YEARS AGO to have 200+ steals and 50 blocks in a single NBA season and the most steals since Gary Payton in the 1995-96 season, the year the Seattle Supersonics went to the NBA Finals.

That's historic.

The "Stocks" (Steals and Blocks) is rare company. NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen was the last to do it in the 1994-95 season when he snatched 232 steals and stopped 89 shots. Pippen had 211 steals and 58 blocks in 1993-94. Others on the Stocks list: Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Drexler is now 11th on the all-time list with 203 steals and 52 blocks. Daniels has taken his spot.

Daniels led the NBA in deflections per game at 5.8, deflections per 36 minutes with 6.2 and total deflections with 443. The next closest in those key defensive indicators: Kelly Oubre Jr (4.2) with a total of 250. See for yourself.

That's right, Daniels has 171 more deflections than any other player.

He was also second to New York Knicks wing Josh Hart (1.1) in loose balls recovered per game with 1.0 per game and 79 on the season. Hart had 88.

The fact Daniels isn't the red hot favourite to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year is well, quite frankly, laughable.

The favourites are Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Cleveland Cavaliers rim protector Evan Mobley, who is averaging 1.6 blocks per game to go with 9.4 rebounds (7.1 on the defensive end) for the 53-10 Eastern Conference leaders.

Green and Mobley aren't on the deflections list. Green lobbied his way into contention.

StatMuse.com has Draymond Green's defensive rating at 108.5 while Evan Mobley is 108.3 (it was 107.6 15 games ago) this season while Daniels is 110.9.
(Defensive rating is DRTG = 100 × (points allowed)/(possessions).

It would be a potential deal breaker if Green or Mobley were No1 in DRtg but they're not.  It's an important statistic but not the sole measure.

If that was the case OKC's Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be the leading candidates for the DPOY with a DTrg of 107.3 and 107.4.

To add even more context, OKC's team DTrg is No1 at 107.5 while the Hawks languish in 19th place with a DTrg of 115.7.

The net difference is zero for SGA and Williams while Daniels is +4.8 (difference between is rating and the team's rating).

Daniels has won two games on the defensive side of the ball this season. The first was stripping De'Aaron Fox on a last second jumper and the second was picking Desmond Banes clean against the Memphis Grizzlies and dishing a three-quarter court pass for an assisted lay-up for a Hawks win at the buzzer.

Just one guard — Marcus Smart — has won the award since Gary 'The Glove' Payton won it back in 1995-96. Payton had 231 steals that season.

Smart, playing for Boston, won the DPOY in the 2021-22 season securing just 128 steals with an average 1.8 steals per game. He had five steals four times and one game with four ... that's it.

RELATED ARTICLE: Dyson Daniels and the Art of the Steal

Daniels has had five steals or more in 12 games, including four games with six, two with seven and his career high eight against Joe Ingles' Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Eve 2024.

The fact Daniels guards the best 1, 2 or 3 every night also adds weight to his candidacy: New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson; Boston's Jayson Tatum; Milwaukee's Dame Lillard; Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell; Detroit's Cade Cunningham; Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey; and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton.

"You gotta give him credit, he's a hell of a defender" Donovan Mitchell said after a late November 2024 contest against the Hawks.

Did I mention Mobley is averaging 1.6 blocks, which is tied for 11th. He's not even in the Top 10. Daniels recorded a total of 55 blocks during the 2024-25 regular season, averaging 0.7 blocks per game. Mobley, a centre, is averaging just a block more per game than Daniels, a guard.

The only negative for Daniels is he played on a team with a sub .500 record while Mobley is an anchor on one of the NBA's best.

Daniels leads the league in steals, deflections per game, deflections per 36 minutes, total deflections, second in loose ball recovery per game and total.

He's played the 76 games and is eligible for Defensive Player of the Year.

Tell me why, again, Dyson Daniels isn't the red hot favourite to win the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year because a vast majority of the numbers sure do.

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.