The Minnesota Timberwolves' new-look roster will constantly draw matchup advantages, and Jaden McDaniels will be the biggest beneficiary this year. Who do you hide your worst defender on? It's definitely not Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball. The ease of getting switch or lob rules out Rudy Gobert. Jonathan Kuminga is a bruising athlete. That leaves Jaden McDaniels, a budding offensive creator with a ton of size and length.
Based on the preseason, McDaniels is the poison that opposing teams will pick. And against the Miami Heat in the Timberwolves' first game of the season on Wednesday, Klay Thompson is slated to guard McDaniels. That'll be light work.
Miami is a great example of how the Timberwolves' ability to naturally create mismatches will play out. Andrew Wiggins will guard Edwards, and Davion Mitchell will guard Ball—either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Bam Adebayo will guard Gobert, with the other taking on Kuminga (likely roaming off him if he's in the corners).
Regardless, having a 36-year-old Thompson guard McDaniels will be a massive advantage for the Timberwolves, and it'll ensure that Jaden has a big scoring night. LaMelo's elite playmaking will ensure that McDaniels gets proper involvement and these mismatches get exposed.
Jaden McDaniels will have a big scoring night against Klay Thompson
In his prime, Thompson was a great defender, but given his age and injury history, he's a borderline liability. Thompson can hold his own as a chase defender or against a limited offensive player, but he can't take on tough matchups. While McDaniels is who opposing teams will be forced to hide their weak link on, he's still a tough matchup.
At 6-foot-10 (officially listed as 6-foot-9 but widely believed to be taller), McDaniels has elite positional size. As such, he can shoot over smaller defenders from the mid-range and 3-point land. He can do that against the 6-foot-5 Thompson. Plus, McDaniels is remarkably quick for his size, and he thrives on getting to the rim. The slower and less athletic Thompson won't be able to hang when McDaniels is driving to the rack.
McDaniels is efficient as heck at all three levels too. Last season, he shot 71.5 percent at the rim, 47.2 percent from the mid-range, and 41.2 percent from the 3-point range. As we saw against the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, McDaniels thrives at attacking mismatches.
Since he'll have more favorable mismatches and better playmaking around him, McDaniels is poised for a career-best offensive season. He may even become an All-Star, and this offensive leap starts on Wednesday with an easy matchup against Thompson.
Beyond the basketball advantages of the matchup with Thompson, it's worth noting that the two players previously scrapped three years ago, which led to the infamous Draymond Green-Gobert chokehold. So yeah, it's safe to say McDaniels will be out for blood and is poised to have a big game to open up the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google