NBA GMs name Dyson Daniels the league\u2019s top perimeter defender ahead of his 2026 contract talks.<\/p>\n
NBA\u00a0general managers have voted<\/a> Australian guard Dyson Daniels the best perimeter defender heading into the 2025-26 season and into his contract extension<\/a> negotiations.<\/p>\n Daniels, 22, earned almost one third of the votes in the anonymous NBA poll. It will only bolster his contract talks ahead of becoming a restricted free agent in 2026.<\/p>\n Who is the best perimeter defender in the NBA?\u200dDyson Daniels, Atlanta \u2013 31%\u200dAlex Caruso, Oklahoma City \u2013 24%Amen Thompson, Houston \u2013 22%Lu Dort, Oklahoma City \u2013 14%Jrue Holiday, Portland \u2013 7%Ausar Thompson, Detroit \u2013 2% Daniels, born in Bendigo, had what can only be described as a breakout season for the Atlanta Hawks<\/a>, traded by the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> after his second season.<\/p>\n He is a restricted free agent in 2026. <\/p>\n Contract RecapStatus: Daniels is eligible for rookie-scale extension in 2026 offseasonCap projection (2026-27): USD\u00a0~$166MAtlanta holds: Full Bird Rights, which means they can offer 8% annual raises, up to 5 years<\/p>\n Daniels has a decision to make: Lock in a four-year extension (no option); negotiation a three-year plus one-year player option or wait until he becomes a restricted free agent.<\/p>\n If Daniels improves his scoring output without any improvement on the defensive side of the ball he moves into the USD\u00a0$30M per season salary range.<\/p>\n This is what it means from a contract perspective:<\/p>\n Four-Year Deal (Team Stability, No Option with 8% raises)2026-27: $30M2027-28: $32.4M2028-29: $35M2029-30: $37.8 M The good and the bad of this deal for Daniels and the Hawks<\/p>\n Security: Four guaranteed years, ~$135M locked in before age 23.Team control: Atlanta keeps him heading into his physical prime.Trade value: Predictable, descending cap share as cap rises.No injury risk from short-term gambles.\u200dNo early opt-out if Daniels outperforms expectations.By 2029\u201330 the contract could look under-market (cap could reach $200M+).Daniels misses one opportunity to renegotiate upward mid-prime.Three Years + Player Option (Flexibility, 8%\u00a0raises)2026-27: $30.0M2027-28: $32.4M2028-29: $35.0M2029-30: Player Option \u2013 $37.8 M The good and the bad of this deal for Daniels and the Hawks<\/p>\n Flexibility: Daniels can re-enter market one year earlier (age 25) if his value explodes.Upside capture: Lets him leverage a higher cap or All-Defense\/All-NBA r\u00e9sum\u00e9 into $40M+Growth incentive: Signals confidence in continued ascent.Risk: Less guaranteed money (~$97M vs $135M locked in).Team concern: Atlanta loses long-term control; may need to renegotiate after Year 3.Cap planning: Harder for front office to align future salary commitments.<\/p>\n The best outcome for the Hawks is a four-year deal without a player option with the hope his deal is under market value by the time it ends.<\/p>\n The best outcome for Daniels is a three-year deal with a one-year player option.<\/p>\n Now that he has been voted as the best perimeter defender in the NBA his bargaining position is only getting stronger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA GMs name Dyson Daniels the league\u2019s top perimeter defender ahead of his 2026 contract talks. NBA\u00a0general managers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-201634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u00bb Last year: Jrue Holiday \u2013 43%<\/p>\n
Total: $135.2M \/ 4 yrsContract ages: 22 to 26Free agent again: Summer 2030 (Age 26)<\/p>\n
Total (if exercised) $135.2 M \/ 4 yrs
Total (if declined) $97.4 M \/ 3 yrsContract ages: 22 to 25 (option year 26)
Free agent again: Summer 2029 (Age 25, if option declined)<\/p>\n