The last time we saw Jaden McDaniels on a basketball court, it was the lowest moment of his NBA career. It was the last game of a trying regular season, a must-win against the New Orleans Pelicans. After picking up his second foul in the first quarter, he walked down the tunnel towards to locker room. Before exiting the tunnel, he turned and threw a nasty haymaker at an innocent curtain hanging on the left side. Unbeknownst to McDaniels, that unassuming curtain was covering up a cement wall. Jaden fractured his right hand, forcing him to miss the rest of the regular season finale and the two play-in games. It also gave him a front-row seat to watch Minnesota’s first-round playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets.
While McDaniels went into hibernation this summer rehabbing his broken hand, the rest of his teammates were living loud during the offseason. Anthony Edwards signed a gigantic max contract and might be the next face of the NBA as the alpha on Team USA heading into the FIBA World Cup. Karl-Anthony Towns looks rejuvenated and seems to be enjoying himself playing for the Dominican Republic. Naz Reid signed a three-year, $42 million contract and celebrated by unveiling Minnesota’s new City Edition jerseys for the 2023-24 season. And Rudy Gobert made one three. Mix those headlines with Josh Minott and Leonard Miller dominating summer league, a few small but shrewd free agent signings, and refraining from making a panic trade, the Wolves are all the way back and ready to compete in a wide-open Western Conference (behind the Nuggets).
While everything was popping off, McDaniels was radio silent probably somewhere making this face. Like Rocky gearing up for his fight with Drago in Rocky IV, McDaniels waited all summer to enact his revenge. Rocky needed to get revenge against Drago for killing Apollo Creed (RIP) and the Soviet Union for the whole Cold War thing. McDaniels also had his enemies. He needed to get revenge against the casuals who left him off the All-Defensive team and the cement wall that broke his hand and ended his season. So what do you do when you’re an NBA player on an offseason warpath?
You allegedly grow two inches and drop a dope-ass summer workout mix tape; that’s what you do. The now reportedly 6’11” McDaniels showed off his handles, catch-and-shoot prowess, off-the-dribble three and midrange capabilities. He also had a sweet and sweaty sidestep one-footed leaner that would make Dirk Nowitzki proud and got Jonah Maves to get a little sentimental on the old Twitter timeline. He looks like he has no issues with the surgically repaired right hand. With plenty of time to heal, McDaniels looks like he’s out to prove he’s not just a dominant defender but a secondary offensive weapon the Wolves desperately needed more of during Towns’ 52-game absence last season.
The Wolves were 23rd in the NBA last season in offensive efficiency and 3.8 points per 100 possessions worse when McDaniels was off the court. Since he entered the NBA in 2020, McDaniels has systematically added elements to his game. On his meteoric rise to the precipice of a two-way star in the NBA, McDaniels has become an assassin from beyond the arc. He shot better than 39 percent from three last season and almost 42 percent from the corners while becoming less reliant on others to put him in position to score.
McDaniels still has a few demons in his game that he needs to let out heading into his fourth season to rise to a true two-way star in this league. Aside from whatever red flags you want to raise for punching a wall when his team needed him the most, McDaniels still committed the second-most fouls in the league, which is the reason he punched the wall in the first place. He could stand to rebound a little better now that he’s pushing seven feet. And his playmaking, while improving, still isn’t quite where it needs to be to be Scottie Pippen to Ant’s Michael Jordan. But McDaniels is on the right path from 28th pick in 2020 to a potential wrecking ball who could be a huge factor in Minnesota’s rise or fall in the West.
He still has some motivation to continue his quiet revenge tour into the season. McDaniels has been eligible for a massive contract extension since earlier in the summer. Many were projecting it to eclipse $100 million, but for whatever reason, the Wolves and McDaniels are taking their time with it. Any kind of delay in negotiations is a troubling sign for Wolves fans who have seen their team botch countless contract negotiations over the years.
After many analysts were up in arms over McDaniels’ exclusion from either All-Defensive team last year, it seems like Jaden is still riding under the radar this season. Many outlets are criminally underrating him in their preseason player rankings or leaving him off their lists entirely. All of this outside noise plus the normal human desire to crush your enemies and win at all costs should be plenty of motivation for McDaniels to have another breakout season. After an on-brand quiet offseason, it’s time for Jaden McDaniels to prove the doubters wrong again, one awesome highlight mixtape at a time.
