The New Orleans Pelicans will be without second-year guard Dyson Daniels, who will miss at least four weeks after a recent knee surgery. He’s emerged as an excellent guard defender this season, his +1.9 defensive estimates plus-minus, 3.0% steal rate and 2.7 deflections per game all placing towards the top of the league. Without him, the Pelicans’ defense will take a hit.
In his second season, Daniels continued his strong defensive impact despite his minutes increase. A dynamite on-ball defender, he’s held some of his most common matchups — Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Luka Doncic — to sub-50% shooting. The eye test backs up the often-finicky defensive tracking data, as his lateral quickness, change of direction and strength stymie all sorts of ballhandlers.
Of all his outstanding traits, New Orleans will miss Daniels’ versatility most. His size allows for extreme role compression, as Daniels guards up and down the roster while impacting the game as an off-ball defender. Some nights, the Pelicans ask him to run with small guards and on others, they stick him on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Their trust in the 20-year-old guard is telling.
With Daniels absent, the Pelicans will rely more heavily on their defensive depth, with players like Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall taking on more difficult assignments. Alvarado can’t defend bigger handlers like Daniels and Marshall is far less consistent working through screens and defending off-ball. Herb Jones’ responsibility will uptick even more, as Daniels’ presence has allowed Jones to defend as a roamer more often, where he’s been destructive.
If there’s a silver lining here, the Pelicans offense could see improvements with Daniels off of the floor, as his timidity as a driver and shooter have been detrimental at times to New Orleans’ offensive flow. Though he’s improved since last season, Daniels is shooting 29.1% from three with a 51.6% true shooting percentage, both by far the lowest figures among regular Pelicans’ rotation players.
At this stage of his career, Daniels’ trust in his scoring is as significant an issue as the efficiency itself. He often hesitates to attack off of the catch, allowing defenses to reset and force turnovers by playing the pass. Daniels’ absence could open up more minutes for Jordan Hawkins, who would benefit greatly from the NBA reps. Though his defense has been poor this season, the Pelicans always benefit from adding his spacing and movement shooting capabilities.
| Lineups | GP | MIN | Off RTG | Def RTG | NET RTG |
| J. Valanciunas – C. McCollum – B. Ingram – Z. Williamson – H. Jones | 31 | 350 | 117.0 | 119.4 | -2.4 |
| C. McCollum – L. Nance Jr. – B. Ingram – Z. Williamson – H. Jones | 16 | 89 | 105.9 | 103.1 | 2.8 |
| J. Valanciunas – B. Ingram – Z. Williamson – H. Jones – D. Daniels | 11 | 89 | 134.6 | 113.9 | 20.7 |
| J. Valanciunas – C. McCollum – B. Ingram – H. Jones – T. Murphy III | 21 | 82 | 114.0 | 95.8 | 18.1 |
| C. McCollum – L. Nance Jr. – B. Ingram – H. Jones – T. Murphy III | 9 | 43 | 117.8 | 95.3 | 22.4 |
| J. Valanciunas – C. McCollum – M. Ryan – H. Jones – J. Hawkins | 7 | 41 | 108.2 | 110.3 | -2.1 |
| J. Valanciunas – B. Ingram – H. Jones – D. Daniels – J. Hawkins | 9 | 38 | 101.3 | 108.8 | -7.5 |
| J. Valanciunas – C. McCollum – B. Ingram – Z. Williamson – T. Murphy III | 6 | 34 | 122.2 | 112.5 | 9.7 |
| J. Valanciunas – B. Ingram – Z. Williamson – D. Daniels – J. Hawkins | 3 | 32 | 131.7 | 116.7 | 15.1 |
If all goes well, Dyson Daniels should return before the postseason. Until then, the Pelicans will look to their deep bench to make up for his impact.
Analysis by Ben Pfeifer
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