When will the Minnesota Timberwolves extend Jaden McDaniels?
By Bret Stuter
Whenever Minnesota Timberwolves small forward Jaden McDaniels steps onto the basketball court, expectations for elite NBA defense skyrocket. And thankfully, those expectations are met with one of the best defensive performances in all of professional basketball. How good is it? Well, to be honest, don’t take my word for it.
The proof is in the pudding, and that means we have to take a crack at NBA statistics. Thankfully, we have those readily available in a recent article about how well the Minnesota Timberwolves have defended Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James in the past two seasons. And so, let’s simply revisit those same statistical presentations once more:
LeBron's PPG in the last two seasons vs every NBA team:
— BronMuse (@BronMuse) July 13, 2023
38.5 — Hornets
37.5 — Wizards
36.0 — Nets
35.5 — Thunder
34.7 — Hawks
34.4 — Blazers
33.0 — Raptors
32.5 — Kings
32.0 — Warriors
31.8 — Celtics
30.0 — Heat
29.6 — Jazz
29.5 — Pelicans
29.0 — Spurs
29.0 — 76ers
29.0 —… pic.twitter.com/E63gieqXuL
Impressive stuff, right?
McDaniels is Micky D
Who’s responsible? Well, you have Timberwolves Jaden McDaniels to thank. That’s a lot of oomph coming from the 22-year-old TImberwolves small forward. The best news is that McDaniels is just getting warmed up.
Entering just his fourth NBA season, McDaniels has shown rapid development and has confirmed all of the trust and expectations placed on him by the Minnesota Timberwolves. His minutes played per game, as well as the number of games that he has started, have increased dramatically since his rookie season.
The challenge right now is, how high can Jaden McDaniels skyrocket in the NBA in the future? That is where it all becomes quite tricky, complex, and entangled. How so? Well, let’s discuss that on the next slide.