Hawks' Daniels relieved he's no longer on 'cursed' Pelicans
Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels was grateful to learn he was being traded by the New Orleans Pelicans this past summer - freeing him from whatever jinx had been seemingly placed on the franchise.
"That organization's cursed," Daniels told The Stein Line's Jake Fisher on Wednesday. "Every year, there's something new. I'm happy I'm not there anymore."
Daniels added that he felt whatever jinx was plaguing the Pelicans was affecting him, too.
"I had like four or five ankle injuries down there as well," he told Fisher. "There's something down in that water down there or something.
"They got hamstrings. They got knees. They got concussions and stuff as well. They get everything down there. I don't know what it is. Playing hard I guess?"
The Pelicans have been dealt a seemingly disproportionate share of misfortune since Daniels' rookie season with the club in 2022-23.
The Australian guard himself turned his right ankle in his very first Summer League contest, which forced him to miss the rest of the offseason competition. That same ailment sidelined the eighth overall pick for eight of the first 12 games of his rookie season. He then tweaked the same ankle again in January, causing him to miss 12 straight games.
Meanwhile, star forward Zion Williamson - who missed the entire season prior because of a foot fracture - had his 2022-23 campaign cut short in January due to a strained hamstring. Teammate Brandon Ingram played a career-low 45 games that season after a toe contusion ruled him out for two months in the middle of the campaign.
Williamson's hamstring is again proving problematic, with the Pelicans star currently out indefinitely with another strain. Ingram is also without a return date after spraining his ankle Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was his second game back after missing five straight with a calf issue. The pair was among seven Pelicans to not play in Thursday's 111-109 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Daniels, meanwhile, is having a breakout season in Atlanta. The 21-year-old has missed just two of 26 games so far while averaging career highs across the board with 13.5 points, five rebounds, 3.3 assists, and an NBA-leading three steals per contest.
He also had one of his most impactful performances of the season in his return to New Orleans on Nov. 3; he scored 16 points with five rebounds, three assists, and a steal and was a season-high plus-21 in just under 25 minutes in a 15-point win for the Hawks.