Despite the Minnesota Timberwolves' thrilling offseason, their frontcourt depth is a clear flaw. After signing Jonathan Kuminga, it's their biggest remaining weakness.
Second-year big man Joan Beringer is the Wolves' backup center to Rudy Gobert. While I have high hopes for Beringer, he's still unproven, and he struggled with foul trouble last season. Even if Beringer is ready, depth is king, and the Timberwolves don't have a natural emergency backup big man.
The most conventional emergency big man option would be Trey Lyles. However, he played overseas last season and isn't a good rim protector. What about Jaden McDaniels, who has flashed upside as a rim protector?
During a recent interview with Britt Robson of MinnPost, Chris Finch discussed the concern of frontcourt depth and the options they have.
"I think when you look at the roster that we have, we have choices," Finch said. "There is the opportunity for Jaden to go to the five and you would be able to throw other really good defenders out there. Trey Lyles has metrics at the five that really jump off the chart in some ways. Some of that is his offense helping defense, but I think he is smart enough and got enough bulk to fight and the right DNA to do that. But I haven’t settled on anything yet and I don’t think anyone here has yet. I can see us leaning into more and more zone (coverage). We’ve been a pretty good zone team."
Obviously, it makes sense for the Timberwolves to evaluate in camp, but I firmly believe McDaniels is the best option for this emergency center void.
Jaden McDaniels can thrive as a small-ball five
McDaniels is well-known for his elite point-of-attack defense, as he should be. Regardless, his ability to wreak havoc as a defensive playmaker and protect the rim in a pinch is overlooked. According to Databallr, McDaniels ranked in the 95th percentile for blocks per 100 possessions last season. Furthermore, per Basketball Index, he ranked in the 92nd percentile for rim disruption and in the 88th percentile for rim protection.
To be clear, McDaniels is best utilized as a POA defender, since few, if any, players can be the on-ball stopper that he is. Still, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that McDaniels can be a small-ball five or secondary rim protector if needed. Versatility is what makes McDaniels such a special defender, in addition to his proven elite on-ball defense.
With the Timberwolves' new-look roster, we could see his versatility utilized a bit more. It will still be more of a situational usage since the Timberwolves should ideally have 48 minutes of rim protection with Gobert and Beringer (assuming he develops).
Over the course of an 82-game season, there's plenty of room for different looks. Whether it's based on injuries or foul trouble, McDaniels at the five is a nice wrinkle for the Wolves.
Between Ayo Dosunmu, Anthony Edwards, and Jonathan Kuminga, the Timberwolves will have enough options at the POA to account for McDaniels defending the rim. This might not be ideal as the Timberwolves' primary defense, but as an occasional wrinkle it could work nicely.
Finch also noted the possibility of more zone defense, which would be ideal with McDaniels at the five, and it would negate the POA drop-off to some extent. Last season, we saw the Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs in a November game by closing the game with a zone, and McDaniels manned the middle during that game. As such, there's evidence this can be a successful wrinkle.
McDaniels at the five could also unlock the possibility of the Timberwolves utilizing some five-out looks on offense, which could make their offense truly unguardable.
All in all, on both sides of the floor, playing McDaniels at the five could be a nice element for the Timberwolves while solving a major flaw.
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