What are Jaden McDaniel’s chances of excelling? 50/50

Many view the Minnesota Timberwolves roster through a lens of the media’s making.  A team whose stars are seasoned NBA veterans like center Rudy Gobert, power forward and center Karl-Anthony Towns, and even point guard D’Angelo Russell. In that regard, the Timberwolves have played their last wager, and have gone ‘All-In,’ for the next two or three NBA seasons, and the team’s early indications are that the Timberwolves may fall short once again.

But if you resist that pull to the senior side of the Timberwolves roster, and train your eye on the younger stars on this team, you can reach an entirely different conclusion about the Timberwolves’ chances now, and into the future.

This is not an aging team with two or three NBA seasons left before the Timberwolves roster looks into assisted living arrangements for their top stars. Rather, this is a team with layers, like an onion. And underneath the first layer of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and D’Angelo Russell, you’ll find that this team is in quite capable hands as well.

Anthony Edwards is certainly worth talking about, and we have many times. But Anthony Edwards loves to talk about his teammate Jaden McDaniels.

McDaniels is as much of a catalyst on the defensive basketball court as Edwards is the catalyst on the offensive side. Proving just how valuable he is, McDaniels has already put up 50 steals and 50 blocks on the season, the first NBA player to reach that 50/50 mark this year. But don’t discount his offense too deeply, as he has averaged 11.5 points per game, primarily by improving his shot accuracy from the floor and from the perimeter. He has even improved the number of assists that he dishes out in a basketball game.

And he, alongside Anthony Edwards, is one of the front-runners to keep the Minnesota Timberwolves relevant for many more years to come.