The mid-range shot is often seen as a mostly bad shot in the analytics world. They like to see a player attempt a 3-pointer or a shot at the rim; otherwise, the possession isn’t optimal for the offense.
Sure, mid-range shots aren’t as prevalent as they were in previous eras of the NBA. Especially in a playoff setting, though, when defenses do their darndest to shut down threes and layups, those 2-pointers from outside the paint still have to be attempted at times.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels is off to a great start from the mid-range this season. Through Minnesota’s first nine contests, he’s been quite accurate on attempts that aren’t threes or layups.
Jaden McDaniels’ mid-range shot has been pure this season
In his first nine games, McDaniels hasn’t quite found his 3-point shot, shooting 30.8 percent after shooting 41.2 percent in 2025-26. Still, thus far, the seventh-year forward is shooting 62.7 percent from inside the arc. That is easily a career-best.
What makes his accuracy pretty remarkable is that he’s shooting a smaller percentage of his shots at the rim than he has in his career. His rates this season from 5-9 feet and 10-14 feet are higher than his career marks.
From 10-14 feet, McDaniels is 11-for-18 (61.1 percent). That may not sound like many attempts, but that’s still two shots from that range per game. Some of those have come late in the shot clock as well, when McDaniels had little choice but to put it up.
In 73 appearances last season, McDaniels attempted about 1.4 shots from that range per game and made 51.0 percent. He took barely more than one attempt per game from 10-14 feet in 2024-25.
McDaniels has had an expanded role lately with Anthony Edwards sidelined for the last five games (and counting). The 26-year-old has done well without their superstar and has done much of the damage from the 2-point range. He is also doing this while still providing the superb defense he is known for.
McDaniels' mid-range scoring will become more important in the playoffs
Again, playoff defenses will try to take away the shots analytics love. The mid-range shot is more prevalent when the games mean more. Defenses are trying to take away shots at the rim and beyond the arc, which leaves the mid-range open.
In 2025-26, Minnesota attempted 9.8 shots from 5-9 feet and 7.3 from 10-14 feet per game during the regular season. In their 12 playoff games, those numbers rose to 13.4 and 9.5, respectively (and that’s with half of those outings coming against a Denver Nuggets team where McDaniels famously called out their key players for their subpar defense).
Jalen Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the last two Finals MVPs, do much of their work in the mid-range. They carried that into the postseason, leading their teams to championships.
It’s early, but it’s a great sign how comfortable McDaniels feels shooting in the mid-range. Those shots will become even more important once the stakes are raised.
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