With the Minnesota Timberwolves more than a quarter of the way through the regular season, it’s not too early to talk about trends or improvements seen from particular players. They are currently sixth in the Western Conference with a 14-8 record and have won four straight.
One of the clear areas where a Timberwolves player has shown growth this season is Jaden McDaniels on the offensive end. Now in his sixth year in the NBA, not only is he averaging a career-best in points, but he also has career-bests across the board with his shooting splits.
McDaniels is averaging career-bests across the board
In NBA history, there have only been 13 instances where a player has ended the season with shooting splits of at least 50/40/90 (50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range, and 90% from the foul line). Just eight guys are currently members of that exclusive 50/40/90 club.
Now, there are still 60 games remaining, but McDaniels nearly has the shooting numbers to check off all three boxes. In his 21 appearances, the 25-year-old is shooting 52.3% from the field and 46.5% from beyond the arc (seventh-best in the league).
They got Giannis, but we got Jaden McDaniels 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/g9dWu0ZGG1
— Zone Coverage (@ZoneCoverageMN) December 5, 2025
Where McDaniels falls just short is from the charity stripe. On the season, he is 39-45 from the free-throw line, good for 86.7%. Had McDaniels made more foul shots, he’d be over 90%.
The biggest jump from McDaniels, though, this year is his outside shooting. Entering this season, he was a career 34.8% 3-point shooter. In the previous two years, McDaniels was below 34%, and he has never ended a year at 40% or higher.
There’s still plenty of outings remaining for McDaniels and Minnesota this regular season, but the fact that he is so close to 50/40/90 is incredible. Already the team’s best perimeter defender, his 15.5-point scoring average is 3 more points than his previous career high. Last season, McDaniels finished with 28 games scoring in single digits, something he has only done twice thus far in 2025-26.
The minimums needed to be reached to be eligible for the 50/40/90 club are 300 made field goals, 82 made threes, and 125 made foul shots. The eight players in NBA history who are part of the club are Larry Bird (twice), Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash (four times), Kevin Durant (twice), Stephen Curry, Malcolm Brogdon, and Kyrie Irving.
If McDaniels joins this club, it would be the ultimate surprise but an incredible achievement.