Every year, teams have to work around the wear and tear of an 82-game season. The Minnesota Timberwolves had this all crash down upon them after a healthy start to the season when Karl-Anthony Towns, Taurean Prince, Jordan McLaughlin, Rudy Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels missed a handful of games. Depth is important to relieve the star players to the best extent, but some holes are difficult to fill.
However, Jaden McDaniels has become vital to their success.
The Wolves are 0-7 when McDaniels plays 24 minutes or less this year. In their 23-point loss to the Golden State Warriors and 15-point loss to the Washington Wizards, Minnesota was eviscerated trying to defend the point of attack and defend in space.
The team was able to find some success with Wendell Moore stepping into his shoes, making a start in Minnesota’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to got downhill at will and find others under the rim highlighted Jaden’s importance in guarding the point of attack. This came to concern when Rudy Gobert was ejected, and Jaden was in heavy foul trouble and not completely looking himself in his first game back from illness. Jaden was limited to 18 minutes and picked up five fouls. It was clear how vital he was to the team staying afloat on that end.
Jaden doesn’t only hold value as the POA defender. His ability to track down and contest shots even when he is beaten off the dribble is also vital. That becomes even clearer when you see others attempt to fill his shoes. McDaniels’ defensive IQ and his versatility are beyond what his teammates can offer. Anthony Edwards has shown flashes of being able to do this, but his ability to track back into the flow of the defense still needs work when he is off the ball. Kyle Anderson similarly uses his body and ability to make reads ahead of the player, but he doesn’t possess Jaden’s length and raw athleticism.
McDaniels has also become a much larger threat on offense. Jaden has improved in his shot-making, three-point shot, and finishing around the rim. It’s clear to see in his counting statistics. McDaniels is averaging a career-high in points, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. But McDaniels’ improvement is best demonstrated by his true shooting percentage, which has risen from 55.2% and 55.3% in his first two seasons to 62.9% this year. He is likely in the middle tier of offensive output priority for this team, so McDaniels will not have to go out of his way to force things. However, it is a beneficial development to keep our eyes on.
Offensively they have been able to find ways to set him up for success, though, and he is not as vital to as large of a chunk of team success as he is on defense. The Timberwolves rank middle of the pack in defensive rating, and they are still giving up the most open threes per game in the league at 20.4. When you take away your chaotic engines such as Jaden from the lineup, things tend to go awry for the Wolves. Finding identity has already been difficult enough, but when individual players must be ridden upon for a specific trait, and one of those players is a 22-year-old third-year wing with a lot to still iron out, it can become very difficult.
We knew the Wolves would need excellent screen navigation, on-ball defense, and limited mistakes after acquiring Rudy Gobert because he plays drop coverage. These are lofty expectations to put on a player with still so much to figure out, but it shows how much value Jaden has brought when you take him off of the floor.
Even when he gets into foul trouble, he can impact the game and defense in space incredibly well. Finding ways to get Jaden help to make him continue this development while not shouldering the weight of stopping the ball will only further help him and the team.
