Jaden McDaniels sounded a little like Anthony Edwards after the Minnesota Timberwolves let Game 1 slip in Denver.
“I know what we’re going to do,” he said when a reporter asked about Game 2 on Monday. “We’re going to come out and win. There ain’t no choice besides to win.”
McDaniels has expressed that kind of confidence before. Two years ago, the Timberwolves beat Denver in an epic seven-game series. However, they fell behind the Dallas Mavericks, 3-1, leaving themselves little chance to advance to the NBA Finals. Still, McDaniels confidently said the Wolves would reel off four straight.
The Timberwolves didn’t, missing their best opportunity to win an NBA championship in the Anthony Edwards era. In the offseason, the NBA implemented stiffer penalties for teams that exceeded the salary cap, forcing Minnesota to trade Karl-Anthony Towns.
Minnesota traded Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. In doing so, the Wolves avoided massive tax penalties, including trade restrictions and lower picks. However, they also made the team worse. The Timberwolves went from 56 wins two years ago to 49 in each of the past two seasons.
Randle was supposed to be Edwards’ new running mate. However, Towns’ game fit Edwards’ better. Towns’ outside shooting is singular for a big man, a complement to Edwards, who can drive and kick to him. It made up for Towns’ fouling and defensive lapses.
Meanwhile, Randle is a physical player who can defend bigs and bully his way to the basket. However, he’s also a high-usage player, meaning he dominates the ball on possessions when Edwards is better able to score.
Randle also stifles ball movement, which is detrimental on a team without a traditional point guard. Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo can bring the ball up and make an entry pass. However, Edwards shouldn’t bring the ball up with his knee injury, and Randle still operates as an offensive hub – essentially, the point guard in the halfcourt.
Minnesota’s lack of ball movement was detrimental on Saturday. Jaden McDaniels scored 10 points in the first quarter, but only six in the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Randle went 7 of 16 from the floor and only had two assists.
“We got to find a way to get him the ball,” Edwards acknowledged. “It’s kind of difficult because it’s not like he’s bringing the ball up to court. So, [when] I’m bringing the ball up to court, I got to find a way to get him the ball, initiate, and get him the ball within a play.”
Randle alone wasn’t responsible for the lack of ball movement, but Edwards was passing the ball on Saturday. He led the team with seven assists. Meanwhile, no Wolves player had more than two, other than McDaniels (3). That highlights one of Minnesota’s core issues in Game 1. It’s good that Edwards moved the ball, but many possessions should end with him scoring.
McDaniels is a tertiary scorer. He’s only going to score if his teammates pass the ball to him. Still, the Wolves need him to buoy the offense. The Nuggets appear to have a handle on containing Randle. Therefore, Chris Finch must lean on Ayo Dosunmu to move the ball and score in transition, and DiVincenzo to shoot from the outside, while allowing McDaniels to make an offensive impact.
“We’ve always been a better team when we play fast,” Finch acknowledged. “When we move it more consistently in the half court and generated a lot of good looks, we’re really finding Jaden in the flow of the offense. That kind of dried up. We got to do a better job of staying with the flow and letting everybody benefit from it.”
Finch has frequently called McDaniels Minnesota’s barometer on offense. If he’s not scoring, it’s because the Wolves aren’t moving the ball enough to get it to him. A knee injury is limiting Edwards, and the Nuggets seem to have solved Randle. Therefore, Minnesota’s supporting cast must carry the team while Edwards plays injured.
That means they must feature Jaden McDaniels. He’s their barometer. He’s their way out as the underdog in this series.
