Dyson Daniels is the most disruptive perimeter defender in the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks have a chance to secure his presence on their team for the long run.
Will a contract extension get done before the season starts? ESPN's Tim Bontemps thinks it will.
"The guess here is something gets done, but landing on a number both sides agree on could be difficult," Bontemps wrote on Thursday.
ESPN's Bobby Marks added a projection for the deal: five years and $125 million.
"The contract would remain flat at $25 million per season," Marks wrote. "Factoring in the new contract for Daniels, and (Trae) Young's player option, Atlanta would be $26 million below the luxury tax and comfortably beneath both aprons."
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There are plenty of numbers that prove how special Daniels is as a defender. The one trick here is determining how some of those numbers factor into a salary negotiation.
Daniels is the absolute best at what he does. So how much is that worth?
"Daniels is a huge success story for Atlanta," Bontemps writes. "He came to the Hawks last summer as part of the trade that sent Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans and became the NBA's Most Improved Player last season while leading the league in steals (229, the most in a season by any player since Gary Payton in 1995-96)."
The deadline for rookie extensions is 6 p.m. ET on Monday. That's when the Hawks have until to get a deal done. And these ESPN insiders believe that in the end, Daniels will put pen to paper.
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