Jaden McDaniels remains an enigma two-thirds of the way through his fourth season in the NBA. Famously the owner of one facial expression that can only be described as the face of a man who has seen how the world ends, McDaniels rarely lets his emotions boil over. There have only been a handful of moments when McDaniels has visibly let us into his world. An occasional frustration punch to a cement wall. A sly smirk when trying to guess which of his teammates’ faces have been mashed together during in-game content. Or when he’s sticking up for his teammates when Dennis Schroder pushes them because he’s the proprietor of arcane unwritten rules. He’s a stone-cold killer, so it’s odd that something is off about his game the last few weeks.
McDaniels began the 2023-24 season how you would expect a 23-year-old who recently signed a five-year, $136 million contract extension would. In lockstep with soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, McDaniels is the leader of the best defense in the NBA by a wide margin. McDaniels missed out on making the All-Defensive team last year, but he’s almost assured a spot on either the first or second team this season. He’s a vital cog in the machine that sits atop the Western Conference standings with a month and a half left in the regular season. But with all of the success in Minnesota this season, there’s something wrong with Jaden McDaniels, and he is on the verge of becoming a liability on the court.
It started when McDaniels failed to score a point and went 0-7 from the field in the first game of a back-to-back against the Portland Trail Blazers before the All-Star Break. He followed that clunker up with an efficient 17-point performance in a 37-point blowout of the Blazers the next night. McDaniels hasn’t been the same caliber player since returning from wherever he spent his well-earned vacation. He opened the back stretch of the schedule with three bizarre performances in a row.
In Minnesota’s first game back, he scored two points and committed five fouls in an aggravating home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. McDaniels followed that up with seven points and three poor turnovers in a win against the Brooklyn Nets. Finch subbed him out less than three minutes into the second half. McDaniels finished the three-game bender with two points, four fouls, and three turnovers in a sloppy offensive showing in a 114-105 win against the lottery-bound San Antonio Spurs. However, he had three steals and two blocks and hounded Victor Wembanyama on defense for most of the night.
In the first three games since the All-Star break, McDaniels averaged 3.7 points and 3.7 fouls per game on a 29/33/50 shooting split while contributing 1.3 blocks and one steal per game on defense. A shooting slump alone hasn’t hampered McDaniels’ play. Inexcusable and borderline lazy decision-making have marred these recent games. He’s often gotten caught dribbling head-on into three or four defenders with no outlet option. Defenders are stripping him of the ball while dribbling in areas of the court where they shouldn’t be able to get a steal. McDaniels is also telegraphing lackluster passes all over the floor. You can see the toll this stretch of poor play is having on his mentality in real time. McDaniels seems to sulk and hang his head more than ever after a poor play. He’s occasionally playing with little to no energy throughout the game.
McDaniels bounced back with 12 points and three blocks on 5-7 shooting and 2-4 from three and only one turnover in a comeback win against the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. The Timberwolves are 3-1 since the All-Star break despite McDaniels’ midseason hiccup, and that’s hopefully all it is. The way he backed up Mike Conley for taking a justified three at the end of the Nets game that drew Schroeder’s ire and his near glee explaining how he felt forcing Memphis’ Santi Aldama into a crucial eight-second violation gives outsiders hope that there’s no real internal locker room strife between McDaniels and any teammates or coaches. Maybe his poor offensive play has just led to a bit of frustration during a long season.
With 23 games left in the regular season, the Wolves need McDaniels to get back in a groove to survive the Western Conference playoff gauntlet. Coaches tighten their rotations in the playoffs, limiting them to only seven or eight players. McDaniels can’t become a liability for Minnesota’s 17th-ranked offense that’s occasionally slowed down in the fourth quarter. Suppose McDaniels continues to struggle. Nickeil Alexander-Walker provides a spark off the bench on both ends of the floor and could usurp his minutes. Zone-buster extraordinaire Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid could also play over him. Even backup point guard Monte Morris, if Chris Finch needs to put a premium on mistake-free, mature basketball.
Players go through highs and lows each season and across their careers. McDaniels is grinding through one of his low points. But there’s still plenty of time to get out of the rut and remind the league why he’s the Scottie Pippen to Anthony Edwards’ Michael Jordan.
