Timberwolves Finch: ‘Single biggest driver . . . Ant, Jaden and Jaylen’

Tuesday, June 28, 2022, was all about meeting and greeting the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie draft class of 2022 at 10:00 am CT. But the message delivered today from Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was completely different altogether.

Finch made a direct statement about, and perhaps direct statement to, his young players Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Jaylen Nowell. And it’s difficult to confuse the message:

Even on the day that the Minnesota Timberwolves organization set aside to welcome the draft class of 2022, head coach Chris Finch reset the expectations.

Jaylen Nowell

Jaylen Nowell is a 6-foot-4 201-pound combination guard who was added to the Minnesota Timberwolves roster with the 43rd pick of the 2019 NBA Draft out of Washington. While he has been improving, it’s clear from his name being mentioned by Coach Finch that the team is looking for huge strides from him this season.

Nowell is a rotational player for the Timberwolves who is primarily an off-ball guard so far. He is used lightly, but he has quietly developed a three-point shot that flirted with 40 percent accuracy in 2021. Despite a promising season, he wilted in the playoffs. Nowell should be able to average more than 10.0 points per game, 3.0 assists per game, and 3.5 rebounds per game. The Minnesota Timberwolves will need all of that, and perhaps more, to advance further in the NBA Playoffs this year.

Jaden McDaniels

It’s pretty clear that Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch sees a world of promise in Jaden McDaniels, and by his rhetoric is turning up the heat on the 6-foot-9 185-pound forward out of Washington. McDaniels enters his third NBA season but continues to be a bit of an enigma He has the height of a power forward, the lankiness of a small forward, and the floor movement of a shooting guard. He was drafted 28th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, and as such the Timberwolves are looking for big things from him.

He has a ton of promise both on the offensive and defensive half of the basketball court, but so far his potential has remained . . . potential. He is getting significant minutes, but he has yet to break the 10.0 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, or 1.0 blocks per game. He has all the tools, but he really needs to apply everything that he can do and simply do it. His greatest need this season is to show rapid improvement in his three-point shot, which regressed all the way from 36.4 to 31.7 percent accuracy. He also needs to show signs of clicking on defense, which was his forte in NCAA basketball.

Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards is the key cog to any future success of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the first overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft and has truly turned around their entire franchise. While the team finished just 29-43 in the 2020-21 season, the 46-36 finish in the 2021-22 season was a huge improvement, much of that success due to Edwards’s continued improvement on the basketball court.

But like other young players, Edwards has room to grow and improve for the team. He was a significant offensive weapon for the Timberwolves, mostly due to minutes and volume shooting. Ant-Man accuracy at the perimeter, while good and 35.7 percent, could be improved. He also needs to get his turnovers under control. He averaged better than 2.5 turnovers per game, which needs to come down. Because he focuses on offense, his defense can be a liability at times. Even his fouls have shot up from 1.8 personal fouls per game to 2.3 fouls in 2021-22, and 3.7 fouls per game in the playoffs.

Clearly, the Timberwolves have work to do to improve in 2022-23. Head coach Chris Finch made it a point to challenge the Minnesota Timberwolves roster trio of promising young players. Will they accept his challenge? The future of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise depends on it.