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The second meeting between juxtaposed Australian guards Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels awaits on Saturday; in Chicago for the first time this season. Average of 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs, including every game of the NBA Conference Finals & NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
Giddey’s Bulls (6-10) host Daniels’ Hawks (7-9) at 12pm AEDT on Saturday as the teams jostle for positioning in a weak Eastern Conference. The Bulls rallied to beat the Hawks by 12 points in the clubs’ first clash in Atlanta in early November, with Chicago and Atlanta to meet two more times this season after Saturday’s bout; once in each city. The second coming-together of Giddey and Daniels offers a reminder of the Aussies’ starkly contrasted NBA trajectories.
Giddey, while he has flashed trademark half-court and transition playmaking, remains a doormat on defence and turnover-prone. “Is he going to be an elite defender in the NBA? Probably not,” Chicago head coach Billy Donovan said of the 6’8 ball-handler. “He can master coverage, he can master footwork, he can master, ‘I’m 6-foot-8, I don’t need to close all the way out, I need to figure out my foot speed, I don’t need to get blown by.
’ “He has size and IQ, (but) I do think he’s got to get way more physical in my opinion.” Of Giddey’s footwork in particular, Donovan said: “No, it’s got to be much better. I would liken it to he’s got to become an expert in coverages.
He’s got to be really great and detailed in that.” In 16 games this season, Giddey has averaged a per-game plus-minus of -7.06.
He has finished in plus territory just seven times thus far. “That, for me, is the most important thing,” Giddey said. “Plus-minus is not always accurate, but it is a good representation of the impact a player has while he’s on the floor.
So, I’ve always wanted to keep that in the plus. “As you guys know I’m very hard on myself, and I think that’s a great way to dictate your impact on the game.” Giddey, whose value is seemingly decreasing by the week, will become a restricted free agent at season’s end after he and the Bulls were unable to come to terms on a contract extension in the pre-season.
On the other side of the coin, Daniels has improved his game in leaps and bounds in season 2024-25 — emerging as not only a Most Improved Player candidate but a Defensive Player of the Year chance. And while his specialty is defence, the third-year guard has also added to his offensive package to supplement superstar Trae Young in a new-look Atlanta backcourt. In 14 games this season, Daniels has averaged 14.
6 points per game — up from 5.8 in his final season with New Orleans — 4.9 rebounds, 3.
1 assists, 3.1 steals — the best clip in the NBA by a fair margin — and 1.0 blocks.
The 22-year-old, whose impressive 44 steals for the season are nine clear of the next-best Tari Eason, has embraced his teammate’s new nickname for him. “I like it. Great Barrier Thief.
That’s not a bad one,” Daniels said when asked about the new moniker, given to him by Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. “It’s better than the one he had for me. He (Nance) used to call me ‘Dys Spice’ — but Great Barrier Thief, I’m happy with it.
” Three-point shooting remains the key improvement point for Daniels — managing a measly 28.8 per cent clip for the season — but his two-way fit alongside Young has inspired renewed confidence in Atlanta..
