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I mean that junior year Daniels was better than sophomore year Hamilton. At least in previous carnations of this exercise, players were drafted based on what they were at their peak. I haven't really closely considered the sophomore Daniels versus sophomore Hamilton angle, but I tend to agree that Hamilton was better.
They're much different players, so it's a tough comparison to make. Hamilton was the superior rebounder and passer by a considerable margin, even the better free throw shooter. Daniels, conversely, was often a disaster in traffic, which was one of the reasons we struggled so much mid-season when opposing coaches started trapping the hell out of Bazz ball screens.
But Daniels' ability to function as a pick and pop killer on the 2014 team was obviously an integral part of our success - Hamilton could never quite do that, because in addition to being hesitant as a shooter, he never developed his body to the point that he could serve as an adequate screener. And, though Hamilton came a long way in terms of creating for himself, I still give the edge to Daniels in that department because of his work in the post (that's the part of his game that I think could have been expanded on had he returned for another year).
Defensively, Hamilton got a lot better as his sophomore year progressed, but it was still pretty spotty, and Daniels gave us the rare double-boon of rim protection and quality pick-and-roll defense.
