Jaden McDaniels’ growth gives the Timberwolves the element they’ve lacked for years

One of the most exciting aspects of the Minnesota Timberwolves season has been Jaden McDaniels' offensive growth. The 25-year-old big man is averaging 14.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 51.2/44.5/84.9 shooting splits. In years past, McDaniels' inconsistent shooting and offensive aggression gave opposing teams a clear pathway to gameplan against the Wolves. Now, though this can't be done as McDaniels will make teams pay for leaving him open and punish mismatches.

Likewise, while the Wolves haven't had a clear No. 3 option before McDaniels' leap -- now they do. And of course, McDaniels remains one of the best defenders in the league. While it's been awesome to watch McDaniels grow offensively in the regular season, this will truly pay dividends for the Wolves in the playoffs.

McDaniels' offensive growth changes the Wolves' ceiling

As hinted at earlier, with Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, the Wolves have a dependable first and second option. Yet McDaniels provides the Wolves with some much-needed tertiary scoring and shot creation. I think the most notable area of improvement is 3-point shooting. McDaniels came into this season averaging 34.8 percent from beyond the arc for his career -- thus, a jump to 44.5 percent is significant.

The impact of McDaniels' shooting growth is immense, as teams no longer sagging off of him limits the effectiveness of double teams on Edwards.

Self-creation is another clear area of growth for McDaniels. Notably, per Databallr, he has spent the most time on the ball in his career this season. He can attack mismatches and score off the dribble at all three levels. McDaniels' mid-range scoring has been a fun development -- he is averaging a career-high 50 percent from the mid-range. One thing that I love about his game is that McDaniels dribbles efficiently and always finds quality shots everywhere on the court.

Per Basketball Index, McDaniels ranks in the 93rd percentile for overall shot making efficiency. Furthermore, the Washington product has always been a great finisher, and that's been the case once again.

In general, McDaniels looks so much more comfortable with the ball in his hand. His 2.9 assists per game don't jump off the page, but he is initiating the offense at a high level, which gives the Wolves another wrinkle in their point guard by committee offense.

McDaniels, as the pick-and-roll ball handler, leads to an impressive 0.94 points per possession. His connection with Rudy Gobert has been a notable element of the Wolves' offense.

While the Wolves have made back-to-back conference finals, it's felt like something has been missing with their offense. Now, though, with McDaniels taking a massive leap, the Wolves are a much tougher matchup in the playoffs, and they could reach another level.