Jaden McDaniels is quickly proving that last year wasn't a fluke

The Timberwolves are 1-0 after their 118-114 victory over the Trail Blazers. It was the first time in three years that Minnesota won its season opener. Unsurprisingly, Anthony Edwards was the star, finishing with 41 points and halting his trend of subpar outings to start the year. 

He wasn’t the only one who was off to a great start, though, as the offensive jump that Wolves fans hoped would occur from Jaden McDaniels this season was seen, at least for one game.

Jaden McDaniels scores 18 points in season opener

Now in his sixth season, the 6-foot-9 McDaniels just turned 25 late last month. So while he averaged a career-best 12.2 points last season, there is reason to believe more of a scoring jump can happen this season.

McDaniels’ opening night performance should thrill the Wolves fanbase. It was a typical impactful performance on the defensive end for McDaniels with a steal and three blocks. On offense, he dropped 18 points on 6-12 shooting (3-4 from 3-point range, 3-4 from the foul line).

The confidence was displayed throughout. McDaniels gave Trail Blazers rookie Yang Hansen an NBA welcoming with a vicious stuff where he skied over the 7-foot-1 big man. If you go back throughout McDaniels' NBA career, he likely hasn't had a more impressive dunk than this one.

McDaniels looked for his own offense more than a few times, including on this mid-range jumper in the fourth.

Trailing by seven entering the final stanza, that mid-range shot was two of eight points for McDaniels in the fourth. His 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining gave Minnesota a one-point lead.

Looking to further improve from last season

While last season was a career-high in scoring for McDaniels, it increased by an additional 2.5 points during their postseason run. He averaged 14.7 points on excellent efficiency (shooting splits of .515/.382/.893).

In only seven of his 82 games last season did McDaniels connect on at least three 3-pointers. If Wednesday night is a harbinger of things to come for his outside shooting, it would be a huge benefit to Minnesota. 

Since the Timberwolves didn’t add any free agents to standard deals, they were counting on internal growth from their youth. While many pointed to their second-year players as the most likely to improve, McDaniels is still young enough to believe that there is more to his game as well.

The Timberwolves next play the Lakers on Friday. McDaniels averaged 17.4 points against them in the five-game series win for Minnesota in the opening round of last season's playoffs.