The Minnesota Timberwolves have yet to truly realize what they have in Jaden McDaniels, but they’ve always been confident in the player he could become.
They weren’t willing to move on from the 28th overall pick after his rookie year, even though doing so could have landed them a lottery pick. The Wolves “fought hard” to keep McDaniels out of the Rudy Gobert trade in 2022, offering more picks to the Utah Jazz instead. And in 2023, they signed him to a 5-year, $136 million extension.
That extension was an investment in the player McDaniels could become. Jaden’s defensive capabilities in such a lengthy, versatile frame have been the focal point of his game since coming out of the University of Washington. Should he add consistent offense to that, McDaniels could easily blossom into a player who can be a part of the roster construction next to Anthony Edwards for a long time.
So far this season, McDaniels is becoming the player the Timberwolves believed he could be. Most recently, in Minnesota’s 109-106 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Saturday, McDaniels finished with a team-high 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting and 3 of 3 from deep. He wasn’t assisting Edwards en route to the victory. Instead, McDaniels was the Batman on a night where the Wolves desperately needed him to be.
23 games into the season, McDaniels is averaging career highs across the board. He continues to look increasingly vital to what the Wolves are trying to accomplish.
Early in Saturday’s game, the Clippers — owners of a then 6-17 record and going through turmoil — ambushed Minnesota with an in-your-face defensive approach that seemed to stem from desperation.
LA outscored the Timberwolves 34-22 in the first quarter, leading by 15 at one point. Minnesota committed six turnovers and shot 9 of 17 from the floor. Kris Dunn was picking up Edwards at the half-court line. Even though Ant recorded six points and three assists in the first, it seemed likely that Saturday would be a game in which the Wolves would have to generate offense outside of Ant.
When Edwards tried to get going in a pick-and-roll, the Clippers would blow it up and double-team him. They crowded the paint on his drives, pressured him without the ball, and eradicated Ant for pretty much the entire game. He finished with 15 points on 3 of 11 from the floor, 9 of 9 from the free throw line, 0 of 1 from deep, and five turnovers in 37 minutes.
LA’s game plan against Ant was the same as the New Orleans Pelicans’ on Thursday. The Pelicans held Ant to six shot attempts. He passed out of the doubles, made some correct reads, but finished with four assists and eight turnovers, tying a career-high.
That’s where the concern about Minnesota’s offense stems from. Without a natural point guard next to Edwards, the Wolves have struggled to break the type of pressure that the Pelicans and Clippers applied. Ant has taken strides as a playmaker this season, but when a team makes it their priority to take him out of the game, there is only so much Edwards can do: get off the ball early and let his teammates go to work.
Julius Randle had a team-high 14 points at halftime, ten of which he scored in the second quarter. But aside from him, Minnesota had zero offensive production. The Wolves shot 6 of 16 overall in the second quarter and 0 of 5 from deep. They trailed by 14 at halftime, so Chris Finch knew something had to change.
“They really did a good job of trying to bottle up Julius and Ant,” Finch said postgame. “So we just tried to go a different direction coming out of halftime.”
Finch pivoted to McDaniels.
Rudy Gobert steal + Jaden McDaniels transition dunk pic.twitter.com/g3exsjCHbT
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 7, 2025
Jaden took only one shot attempt in the second quarter and went scoreless after notching a quick seven points in the first quarter. But through the first three minutes of the third, McDaniels scored another seven points. His scoring burst brought the Wolves within eight points and forced Tyrone Lue to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Wolves began looking to McDaniels to bring the ball up the court on a few possessions, with positive results. He wasn’t playing like a point guard, per se. However, Jaden was initiating the offense with Edwards off the ball, which helped to put LA on its heels defensively, forcing its lower-level defenders to engage.
Jaden McDaniels transition layup + foul through 5 defenders pic.twitter.com/Ws1ym39OXg
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 7, 2025
At the very least, it gave Minnesota’s offense a different look, which, in the face of stout pressure, it hasn’t had this season. McDaniels was operating out of pick-and-rolls and getting inside the arc to cash in on those tough mid-range jumpers that have been a huge part of his success this season.
McDaniels scored 12 points in the third and another eight in the fourth to power Minnesota’s second-half comeback. He was the release valve on Saturday night, not just because of his typical efficient shot-making, but because of the way that he generated productive, repeatable offense when nobody else could.
“He carried us tonight,” said Mike Conley. “Just being aggressive, looking for his offense, because we need that kind of Jaden every night. I think it takes a lot of pressure off Julius and Ant and guys like that to have to be relied on so heavily.”
There has been much discussion amongst Wolves fans regarding Minnesota’s need for a point guard — someone who can settle things down in the face of pressure defense, particularly late in games. Minnesota has one roster spot open and is $3,561,987 below the second apron, according to Spotrac. They could sign a free-agent PG or explore the trade market.
However, McDaniels showed on Saturday that — with his tough isolation shot-making, ability to bring the ball up the court, and comfort level in transition — he can be an option for the Wolves to break through the in-your-face pressure that has taken Ant out of games and been one of their biggest problem areas over the last two seasons.
McDaniels has already had a fabulous start to his season. Looking at the box score, Saturday’s game was the latest installment. But even deeper than that, we saw something from McDaniels that could further unlock the Wolves. If they can start turning to him to be a pressure release valve when Ant is being face guarded, it would raise Minnesota’s ceiling this season, and perhaps they wouldn’t need to shake up their rotation to bring in a point guard.
Internal development is key to crafting a championship-level team. The Wolves must figure out how to consistently break pressure defense, especially come playoff time. And on Saturday, McDaniels — Minnesota’s biggest developmental project over the last five years — further showed that his scoring leap is here to stay as he continues to look more vital to what this team is trying to accomplish.