It's long been clear that Jaden McDaniels has another level to reach on offense. This is true even after he put together a career-best season, averaging 14.8 points in 2025-26. After the season, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly noted that McDaniels "has a couple more gears to get to."
LaMelo Ball, while another scoring threat, could help McDaniels level up, thanks to his elite playmaking. Furthermore, getting rid of Julius Randle opened up some clear opportunities for him. As such, the Timberwolves' internal optimism about McDaniels continued after the Ball trade. Regardless, Minnesota signing Jonathan Kuminga does make me wonder: What's in store for McDaniels?
Look, I'm sure the Timberwolves still have high hopes for McDaniels. And if you know me, I'm the ultimate McDaniels believer. As has been the case throughout his career, though, the usage puzzle could unfortunately leave some of McDaniels' offensive potential untapped.
Jonathan Kuminga could take away opportunities from Jaden McDaniels
To be clear, signing Kuminga was the right call. The Timberwolves needed a physical forward to defend opposing fours and crash the glass. With Kuminga in the mix, McDaniels will remain at the point of attack, which is another clear positive. Kuminga was by far the best option on the open market, and he should surely outplay his $6 million contract this season.
Nevertheless, there are genuine concerns about his fit; chief among them for me is McDaniels' role in the offense. Ideally, Kuminga will cut back on his isolation shot diet and buy into a play-finisher role. Even still, Kuminga will naturally take away some shots from McDaniels, and he's another mouth to feed.
Between Anthony Edwards, LaMelo, Kuminga, and even Ayo Dosunmu, there's simply a lot of skilled offensive players on the Timberwolves. Plus, they want to unlock Rudy Gobert. Another factor is that the frontcourt of Gobert and Kuminga has floor spacing concerns.
The point being, it could be challenging for McDaniels to get the offensive involvement he deserves, and he might be relegated to a heavy spot-up role.
Yes, having multiple creation threats is largely beneficial, but not having McDaniels reach his full potential could be an unintended consequence. He is a legitimate three-level scorer with elite size; that's a lethal combination. We saw this upside in the first-round against the Denver Nuggets, where he averaged 17.8 points, including a 32-point performance in a closeout Game 6.
Not utilizing this creation side of McDaniels' game would frankly be a disservice, and as noted, there's long been untapped potential. There's no doubt that McDaniels would still be a highly valuable two-way player, even if he doesn't get a bigger role in the offense. Again, though, it's clear that he can be more than that.
Maybe the Timberwolves can strike the perfect usage balance and empower McDaniels alongside the rest of their talent. Doing so will be anything but easy, though.
Despite the benefits Kuminga brings to the table, he makes solving the usage puzzle even more challenging for Chris Finch. Without a doubt, his arrival will test just how serious the Timberwolves are about empowering McDaniels.
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