Jaden McDaniels is arguably the league's best perimeter defender. He has a rare blend of elite size, length, and quickness that lets him take star guards out of games—ask Jamal Murray. Anyone who has watched the Minnesota Timberwolves closely, though, could tell you that McDaniels is also a fantastic off-ball defender and secondary rim protector.
Based on some of the early tea leaves, it sounds like the Wolves are going to utilize this part of McDaniels' game.
"I'm super excited, I'll be able to fly around, be on the ball, off the ball, then just rotation wise, we all got, shoot Melo like 6-foot-7, he's almost as tall as me. So I think he has potential to play defense well. Just all of us flying around helping each other out," McDaniels said at training camp.
"I do think with the addition of JK (Kuminga), that we have somebody else who can do that (be the wing stopper) and deploy Jaden some off the ball, as a help guy, where he is also really good," Chris Finch said during an interview with Minn Post.
While largely keeping McDaniels as an on-ball stopper is ideal, switching up his role and allowing him to roam off the ball more would unlock his full potential. As Finch noted, Jonathan Kuminga is another option to take on tough matchups. Plus, Jaylen Clark, Ayo Dosunmu, and Anthony Edwards are three other options to defend the perimeter, which could help free up McDaniels.
Deploying McDaniels off the ball would also help him as he earns a bigger offensive role.
Jaden McDaniels is an elite off-ball defender
As hinted at earlier, McDaniels' size, length, and IQ make him a superb off-ball roamer and secondary rim protector. Notably, according to Databallr, McDaniels ranked in the 95th percentile for blocks per 100 possessions. Furthermore, he ranked in the 92nd percentile for rim disruption per Basketball Index.
The numbers paint a clear picture: McDaniels is an elite secondary rim protector.
Still, we don't get to see McDaniels in this role enough, as he is often glued to the opposing team's best player, ranking in the 99th percentile for matchup difficulty per Basketball Index. To be clear, he should still guard the opposing team's best player most nights, but shifting him around is vital to unlocking his full defensive upside.
Minnesota's defense has been elite since trading for Rudy Gobert in 2022, and McDaniels has been a big part of it. Adding this extra wrinkle of McDaniels being used off the ball will help the Wolves sustain their success and perhaps make them more dangerous than they've been in the past two seasons. Likewise, I'm a big believer that the best defenses are unpredictable, and having McDaniels move around off the ball will make the Wolves' defense extremely unpredictable.
Imagine having to deal with Gobert at the rim while having to account for McDaniels roaming across the court. That sounds terrifying for an opposing offense to deal with.
Alternatively, McDaniels' off-ball roaming could help stabilize the Wolves' defense when Gobert is off the floor. Joan Beringer could provide some quality rim protection, but he'll obviously still be a step back from Rudy. As such, having McDaniels on the floor as a roamer can help him cover up for some of Beringer's mistakes and ensure these minutes go smoothly.
While McDaniels is already known as one of the league's best defenders, with more off-ball responsibilities, he'll reach another level and, in turn, make his transition to a bigger offensive role easier. Overall, the Timberwolves taking full advantage of McDaniels' defensive skill set will benefit him and the team immensely.
Add us as a preferred source on Google