{"id":403712,"date":"2026-01-10T07:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403712\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T07:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:27:08","slug":"dyson-daniels-comments-on-trae-young-trade-to-washington-wizards-first-triple-double-atlanta-hawks-vs-denver-nuggets-stats-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403712\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyson Daniels comments on Trae Young trade to Washington Wizards, first triple double, Atlanta Hawks vs Denver Nuggets stats, video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dyson Daniels and the Atlanta Hawks made a big statement<\/a> in their first full game since the Trae Young trade went official \u2014 and the Australian star has acknowledged it\u2019s time for the franchise to move forward. <\/p>\n

Bendigo native Daniels couldn\u2019t have marked the occasion in more impressive fashion, storming to his first career triple-double<\/a> as the Hawks routed the Nuggets 110-87 on Saturday AEDT in a sign of what\u2019s to come for the Aussie abroad. <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

WRAP: \u2018Special\u2019 Dyson masterclass in epic NBA first; Aussie \u2018scraps like rent\u2019s due\u2019 in cruel finish<\/a><\/p>\n

In 36 minutes, Daniels scored 17 points on 8-14 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and notched 10 assists in the latest of a series of well-rounded performances. <\/p>\n

The 22-year-old had already flashed his improved playmaking capabilities with Young sidelined due to a quad contusion, but the nimble guard took his play to another level in Denver \u2014 whether it was driving and dishing to teammates, or creating good shots of his own. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty special,\u201d Daniels told the Hawks broadcast post-game of notching his first triple-double. <\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a triple-double\u2019s not an easy thing \u2026 I\u2019ve been close to getting that triple-double for a few games now, so I\u2019m glad I got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the impact of the Young trade on the team, a mature-sounding Daniels wished the four-time All-Star well but said it was time to \u201cfocus on our guys we\u2019ve got now\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, we know what it is; Trae was the engine for this team for a long time. We wish him the best in Washington,\u201d Daniels said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut now we\u2019ve got to focus on our guys that we\u2019ve got now in the locker room. We\u2019ve got guys who can play; guys who can handle the ball and get downhill \u2014 CJ (McCollum) and Corey (Kispert) coming in, they\u2019re very good players as well that are smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniels, who still has plenty of improvement to make in terms of his outside shooting \u2014 going at 11.7 per cent this season from downtown \u2014 has taken considerable strides as a playmaker in addition to his elite defensive abilities. <\/p>\n

The \u2018Great Barrier Thief\u2019 was last season\u2019s runaway NBA steals leader, playing at an All-NBA defensive level, but questions continued to be asked of his abilities on the offensive end despite penning a monster four-year, $100 million (A$153.5m) rookie contract extension. <\/p>\n

In the 2024-25 campaign, Daniels totalled 333 assists in 76 games; an average of 4.4 per game. In 38 games this season \u2014 half the time \u2014 the six-foot-seven guard has accumulated 230 assists; on track for 460 if he ends up playing at least the same number of games this season. <\/p>\n

Following his 10-assist outing on Saturday, Daniels is averaging 8.2 over his past five games. Expect more of those sorts of numbers as the Victorian continues to feel comfortable with more usage in the Young-less Atlanta offence and Jalen Johnson as the scoring focal point. <\/p>\n

Trae Young and Dyson Daniels interact during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 2, 2024. (Photo by Todd Kirkland\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Young was dealt to the Wizards on Thursday in exchange for 34-year-old shooting guard CJ McCollum and three-point deadeye Corey Kispert. <\/p>\n

Daniels has a connection to McCollum, having played with the smooth-mover in New Orleans, where the Aussie was drafted to back in 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played with CJ, so I know he\u2019s a big wine guy,\u201d Daniels said with a smile. <\/p>\n

\u201cLast time I was with him, I was underage, so I couldn\u2019t get a bottle of wine \u2014 so hopefully he brings me one this time \u2026 first day, hopefully there\u2019s a bottle in my locker. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be fun playing with him again \u2014 an experienced leader, vet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair will surely share a bottle of red if the move aids the 19-21 Hawks in their quest for a playoff berth, currently sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dyson Daniels and the Atlanta Hawks made a big statement in their first full game since the Trae…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[2095,4131,7218,64,63,24916,3912,3897,1662,12840,214331,800,2105,3231,11182,13339,590,3879,2041,2067,113276,211044,96979,85,42307,175747,2614,3601,7211,214332],"class_list":["post-403712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-america","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-star","tag-colorado","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-elite-defensive-abilities","tag-espn-inc","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-locker-room","tag-louisiana","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-playoff-berth","tag-quad-contusion","tag-shooting-guard","tag-sports","tag-state-of-georgia","tag-todd-kirkland","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-washington","tag-washington-wizards","tag-wine-guy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403712","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=403712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}