Minnesota Timberwolves’ stopper Jaden McDaniels aggressive defense

Foul merchant or defensive stopper?

Taking on the best scorers in the world night in and night out is a tall task. You have to be physical with stars and make them work harder for every bucket. Defenders can force pickups, make the scorer use more of his counter moves, and stay attached to the scorer’s hip acting as an irritant.

These NBA stars don’t get paid their hundreds of millions of dollars for no reason. It’s extremely tough to stop the bucket-getters McDaniels is guarding. It’s honestly tough to even make them work harder. McDaniels does his work early but he still gets whistles quite often.

McDaniels boasts a 5.3 foul percentage, according to Cleaning The Glass. A number awesome enough to rank in the top 5th percentile. Now, marry that up with his role as the point-of-attack defender, and you can see just how valuable he is. Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija and Pelicans All-Rookie Forward Herb Jones have similar foul rates. These guys play the same role on their teams. They’re young rangy defenders that take the best matchup every night. Other point-of-attack defenders get in done without fouling as much, more power to them.

Fighting off those fouls

McDaniels has fouled out in four of the 14 Wolves games. He’s up to third in total fouls committed currently. There are some frustrating fouls McDaniels could cut out, granted seeing him play with emotion is a good thing.

McDaniels has committed a few fouls after he didn’t get a call his way on the offensive end. Those are silly frustration fouls that could improve his foul rate marginally. The other side of this sword is his aggression level. That has gotten him in trouble early but I have to admit I like his mean streak.

The aggression he’s playing with is part of why he’s able to sit down in a chair against LeBron James and force him to pick the ball up and retreat. It’s why he’s able to stay in front of some of the most innovative ball handlers in the league — or bait them into going by him so he can throw their shot into the fifth row.

He’s going to rack up fouls in this role, that can’t be understated. Eliminating some of the ill-advised fouls can keep him on the floor. But for now, he’s the only elite Wolves perimeter defender and a havoc-causer around the rim. His aggression has led to fouls but also flashes of a player that could make an All-Defensive team as early as this season if the season turns around.