As an undrafted free agent out of Auburn in 2003, Rivers — coaching the Magic at the time — missed out on bringing Daniels to Orlando by mere minutes. Daniels had confirmed to join Don Nelson's Mavericks via phone literally two minutes before Rivers dialed in, according the Providence Journal.
“I loved him,” Rivers told Projo.com of his interest in Daniels as a rookie. “I watched him in workouts, and I
thought he could be an NBA player. I didn’t think point guard at that
point. I just thought he was an athletic ‘3’ with a lot of skills. You
look at his game from afar and you see a guy who’s not a great shooter,
you don’t see stuff. But when you’re up close, you see a lot of things
he does.”
One of the the most important things he brings to this team besides his versatility is the fact that he can give the C's captain and 11-year vet Paul Pierce a much-needed breather from time to time.
“[Daniels] is going to give me a break,” said Pierce, who turned 32 this month. “He is going to give Ray [Allen] a break and who knows, he is a guy who if one of us goes down, he can fill in and start. So that’s the value that he brings, knowing that he’s been a starter. The kid can play. I’ve got high expectations for him, and he’s living up to them.”
After a career year in Indiana, the move to Boston was an easy one for Daniels, even though he is going to play a diminished role in a new city with high expectations.
Most players coming off of career-highs in points (13.6 PPG), starts (43 GS), minutes played (31.5 MPG) and practically every other offensive category expect to see their role take off as a go-to starter. Daniels, meanwhile, will be pushed back to a role player off the bench — which isn't a bad thing for the six-year vet.
“I just want to continue to get better,” Daniels added. “We are all
fighting for one thing. We all have one goal in mind, so I just want to
continue to get better and when it’s June, hopefully we will win and
finish out things the way we need to finish them out here. It’s a great situation for me. [Boston] is a great organization. The
community is good. The coaching staff is good. Everybody has been good
to me and that makes everything a lot easier. The transition was real
easy. I’m surrounded by a
bunch of great players, so that makes it a lot easier for me.”
