The Minnesota Timberwolves will be working overtime, and perhaps even burning the midnight oil, as the team makes the final tweaks to the Timberwolves roster in preparation for the 2023-24 NBA season. But the truth of the matter is that the Timberwolves 2023-24 NBA season may depend heavily upon one young player, and right now his future status is about as clear as mud.
I am referring to the Timberwolves starting small forward, Jaden McDaniels. So what about McDaniels is so obscure and difficult to determine as the new season is about to get underway? It’s the same old challenges that face almost all NBA stars at some point in their careers.
What is Jaden McDaniels injury status? And then, after that, where are the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jaden McDaniels at as far as negotiating his new contract extension?
Jaden McDaniels is vital to Timberwolves success in 2023-24 season
In the grand scheme of the team and the strategic way that Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly has constructed the Timberwolves roster, the Wolves have two stages of an NBA Championship run.
The first phase is the current roster and the 2023-24 NBA season. The Timberwolves have solid veterans on the team like center Rudy Gobert, power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, and point guard Mike Conley Jr. whose peak window of winning is now. And two young stars, shooting guard Anthony Edwards and small forward Jaden McDaniels, are rising to that level of play that could put the Timberwolves over the hump.
But the Timberwolves have another run embedded in this roster, led by Edwards and McDaniels, but joined by center or power forward Naz Reid, rookie Leonard Miller, 3-and-D Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and others. That’s the part of the Timberwolves strategy that few discuss right now. And Jaden McDaniels is vital to that stage as well.
Making money work for McDaniels
Let’s focus on finances first. The Minnesota Timberwolves want to get a contract extension in place for small forward Jaden McDaniels in place before the October 23, 2023 deadline. And ESPN NBA Insider Bobby Marks has been staying on top of all of the latest developments about the Timberwolves’ attempts to ink McDaniels to a new deal.
You can check out the Jaden McDaniels discussion at the 51:55 mark at The Lowe Post link here.
Then @BobbyMarks42 and hit the extension landscape in general and pretty much every candidate -- with Jaden McDaniels, Bey/Okongwu on Hawks, Quickley, Patrick Williams among the highlights:
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 20, 2023
Spotify: https://t.co/yTUVIzhlWz
Apple: https://t.co/n80oV7izre https://t.co/4U3tMhAOcb
The challenge for the Minnesota Timberwolves right now is the proper valuation of McDaniels’ contract extension right now. But once signed, the Timberwolves must be prepared for the punitive clauses in the new NBA rules regarding the two aprons for exceeding the NBA salary cap.
It’s more than McDaniels at stake
Right now, the estimate for Jaden McDaniels’ contract extension is in the ballpark of a four-year $90 million deal (similar to the former Phoenix Suns extension for Mikal Bridges) as per the latest intel from ESPN NBA capologist Bobby Marks. (subscription required).
So what does that look like in terms of contract terms?
So we should call the Vassell extension 5 years, $135M— the tweets that said $146M were agent-work to make it look better, not to be reflective of the cap hit.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 3, 2023
That 5, $135M number, in terms of percentage of the cap, is more in line with the extension Mikal Bridges signed after… https://t.co/Ltm00mGt48
And that is the rub. How does this line up with the existing Timberwolves salary cap commitments?
So we should call the Vassell extension 5 years, $135M— the tweets that said $146M were agent-work to make it look better, not to be reflective of the cap hit.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 3, 2023
That 5, $135M number, in terms of percentage of the cap, is more in line with the extension Mikal Bridges signed after… https://t.co/Ltm00mGt48
If you toss in a $30 million placeholder for Jaden McDaniels, the Timberwolves soar to infinity and beyond in terms of both NBA salary cap limits for the 2024-25 NBA season. A huge payday to McDaniels sets the stage for significant financial penalties ahead for the Minnesota Timberwolves, or a need to shed a highly compensated star like Karl-Anthony Towns.
In the end, the Timberwolves may defer such an important decision.
McDaniels’ injury more precaution than concern
The other major issue that surrounds the future and even current status of SF Jaden McDaniels is his current injury status. He appeared in just one preseason game due to a nagging calf injury. Unto itself, that is not a huge concern. But that piggybacks onto the self-inflicted broken hand that prevented Jaden McDaniels from competing in all postseason games last season.
This season, the status of Jaden McDaniels appears to be trending very much in the positive direction. In fact, the benching of McDaniels for preseason games may have had as much to do with precaution as medical direction.
Chris Finch said pregame Jaden McDaniels has been progressing well from his calf injury — right on cue, 30 minutes later Jaden’s out running stairs in the arena. pic.twitter.com/WRPBaC4Chu
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) October 17, 2023
I think that he will be ready to start the 2023-24 NBA season
Is this the season McDaniels earns NBA All-Defense Team honors?
McDaniels is an elite NBA defender. He has a proven track record of holding even elite NBA scorers well below their season averages. And his age is such that he will continue to improve and develop alongside Anthony Edwards.
But even as the Minnesota Timberwolves hold him in such high regard, he has not earned honors from the NBA at large. That is not uncommon for small-market NBA teams, and the Minnesota Timberwolves fit that small-market NBA team category. Of course, all 30 NBA teams covet Jaden McDaniels’ skills and want him as soon as trade talks begin between the Timberwolves and other NBA teams.
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