Jaden McDaniels injury puts damper on Timberwolves’ chances

With the 2022-23 NBA regular season complete, the Minnesota Timberwolves head into the postseason on a three-game winning streak. After taking down the New Orleans Pelicans in game 82 on Sunday, the Wolves earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference and will travel to Los Angeles to take on the seventh-seeded Lakers in a Tuesday night play-in contest.

Of course, anyone keeping up with Sunday’s action is well aware that Minnesota did not close out the regular season without seeing more drama unfold. But despite the antics that took place, the Timberwolves put up yet another gutsy performance and closed out a dangerous Pelicans team to enter the postseason on the right note.

Unfortunately, Minnesota will be heading into their Tuesday play-in game without arguably their best defender, Jaden McDaniels. After picking up his second foul at the end of the first quarter, J-Mac was subbed out of the game. In frustration, he began walking down the tunnel toward the Timberwolves locker room, appearing to punch the wall on his way.

Jaden McDaniels suffered a broken hand during the Timberwolves’ win over the Pelicans.

It was later revealed that McDaniels had fractured his hand when punching the wall. As such, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game and will likely miss the rest of the season for the Wolves. It was a heat-of-the-moment emotional reaction by McDaniels that produced the worst possible result.

Without him in the lineup, Minnesota will have to find a way to replace J-Mac’s hugely impactful production. Not only had McDaniels put together an All-Defense caliber campaign this season, but he had been one of their most efficient offensive players as well. If he has played his last game in 2022-23, Jaden will finish the year shooting 51% from the floor and 40% from three.

Replacing that kind of production is no easy task. Players like Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince are talented enough to fill some of the gaps, but already being down Naz Reid makes this loss that much worse for the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves will have a much more difficult path in the postseason without Jaden McDaniels.

It goes without saying that beating the Lakers on Tuesday night just became a much more difficult task for Minnesota. The Timberwolves will have one less body capable of effectively guarding multiple positions and slowing LA’s offensive engines down. Players like D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves will be able to roam much more freely without The Seatbelt hunting them down.

But in the long run, the loss of Jaden McDaniels may essentially end any hope of the Wolves making a legitimate run in the playoffs at all. Fully healthy, they looked like a squad that could scare a lot of the top seeds in the West. But now with their injuries adding up, they may not be equipped to challenge a higher seed.

Even if they take down the Lakers and advance to play the Memphis Grizzlies, their ability to slow down the dynamic offensive of Ja Morant and company is now seriously hindered. They would likely need to rely heavily on the star power of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards to have any sort of chance. The Timberwolves’ chances in the postseason may not be dead yet, but they are getting thinner by the day.