Hawks' Dyson Daniels Voted NBA's 2025 Defensive Player of the Year in Poll of Coaches

If the NBA coaches had a say in the awards voting, Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels would win Defensive Player of the Year.

In a poll of 13 head coaches and assistants conducted by The Athletic's Josh Robbins, Daniels was voted the best defensive player for the 2024-25 season with six first-place votes and 42 total points.

"Dyson Daniels has established himself as one of the elite perimeter defenders in the league, leading the league in steals and doing some things we haven’t seen in a long time," one coach said to explain their vote.

Daniels is one of three finalists for the actual Defensive Player of the Year award voted on by the media, along with Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.

One interesting note from the coaches vote, which admittedly is a small sample size, is Mobley didn't even make the top three. Oklahoma City Thunder wing Luguentz Dort finished second with four first-place votes and 24 points, followed by Green in third (two first-place votes, 18 points). Mobley came in fourth place.

Green's late-season campaigning for the award definitely seems to have resonated with voters. It doesn't hurt that the Warriors had the best defensive rating in the NBA over the final two months of the regular season.

Daniels would be an interesting Defensive Player of the Year winner because the Hawks' defense overall is not very good. They ranked 19th in rating and 27th in points allowed per game this season.

The last player to win Defensive Player of the Year on a team that ranked outside the top 10 in rating is Marcus Camby with the 2006-07 Denver Nuggets (11th).

Daniels had a terrific season for the Hawks after being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Dejounte Murray trade. He led the NBA in total steals (229) and steals per game (3.0) in 76 starts.