When will the Minnesota Timberwolves extend Jaden McDaniels?
By Bret Stuter
What is the likely value of the Timberwolves extension for McDaniels?
Okay, now that we have the stats, let’s try to assign some dollars to the extension. Where do we start? Well, that topic was discussed at length by Minnesota Timberwolves beat writer Darren Wolfson. Now keep in mind that this discussion occurred in May 2023, before many significant signings and the revision of the 2023-24 NBA salary cap was reported:
Covered a lot of #Timberwolves ground with former Nets ass't GM and ESPN's @BobbyMarks42 today. Will post entire conversation on a future Scoop podcast. Here's a snippet on what the Jaden McDaniels extension could look like: pic.twitter.com/246R4nZ2xw
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) May 3, 2023
While Darren Wolfson did a great job on the topic, this one is quite vital. Is it too skeptical to seek confirmation? Well, whenever I need the latest and greatest Timberwolves salary cap data, I often turn to Timberwolves data guru and capologist, Dane Moore. Here is where Moore values McDaniels’ contract extension:
Here's what Anthony Edwards's max extension will likely look like, assuming the cap again goes up by 10% next season:
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) June 30, 2023
- 25% max: 5 years, $217M
- 30% max (if he makes All-NBA next season): 5 years, $260M
At 5-$260M number, these are the books (also threw in a McDaniels estimate) pic.twitter.com/3wtU3OKY6i
Per Dane Moore’s estimation, McDaniels’ extension will come in at or about five years and $140 million. That works out to approximately $28 million APY but puts pressure on the Timberwolves during the 2024 off-season.
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Based on Moore’s spreadsheet, the Minnesota Timberwolves will fall beyond both the 2024 NBA Salary Cap and the 2024 NBA Luxury Tax thresholds. Is that something that the team is prepared to work with? I don’t have the answer at this point in time, but I can say that could be one of the reasons for any delay.
Whatever the Timberwolves decide, the team will likely need to act at either the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline or the 2024 NBA off-season to rebalance the roster to fit under the salary cap going forward. Until then, we wait. Stay tuned . . .