At shootaround before the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 115-104 victory over the New York Knicks on Dec. 23, I got the chance to talk to Mike Conley about Jaden McDaniels. Specifically, I asked about McDaniels’ chemistry with Rudy Gobert and whether Conley had been working on that with McDaniels.
Conley, as he is apt to do, took the time to explain how the pick-and-lob game with Gobert is something of an art form. Conley lures defenders in before throwing a late lob at the rim, and McDaniels has gotten more comfortable with that action. Then he said something rather unexpected.
“I think Jaden, with his height, can have that effect at a way higher rate, more efficient, kind of like Kyle Anderson had it when he was here,” said Conley. “Kind of like that taller guard playmaker who can make those plays over bigger people.”
Mike Conley on Jaden McDaniels developing floater/alley-oop chemistry with Rudy Gobert
“I think it’s becoming a little bit more natural. It’s something I’ve talked about it I’ve shown him a lot through practices over the years. It’s something you can work on but you have to… pic.twitter.com/EtxtFjrjL8
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 23, 2025
Kyle Anderson?
The surprise wasn’t necessarily that Conley mentioned Anderson. Heck, half the roster talks about him every week. Instead, the surprise was comparing McDaniels to possibly one of the smartest players in the NBA.
Ironically, I had asked Chris Finch about McDaniels’ improvement as a playmaker a week earlier and was kicking around the idea of a McDaniels story.
“I think he’s always had it, and I just feel like his touches have always been inconsistent in his career here,” Finch said. “Now that his touches are more consistent, and I think he feels more comfortable where he’s going to get his shots, how he’s going to score his points, and that’s kinda opened his playmaking mind.”
Chris Finch on Jaden McDaniels growth as a playmaker of the dribble
“I think he’s always had it and I just feel like his touches have always been inconsistent in his career here… now that his touches are more consistent and I think he feels more comfortable where he’s going to… pic.twitter.com/wKsIVc81T8
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 16, 2025
It’s now been seven days since Conley’s comment, and truth be told, the combination of Finch’s praise and Conley’s comparison has been hard to get out of my head. So hard in fact that I had to ask McDaniels about the Anderson comp and Finch’s comments.
“I don’t mimic his game, but like Kyle, he’s super smart,” said McDaniels. “He plays at his own pace, and he’s kind of a point guard. I always joke and say I could be a point guard, but we not gonna talk about that.”
He chuckled after discussing playing point guard.
“But yeah, the pace that Kyle play at, I for sure can take that away from him, and we also both slow-step a lot,” he continued. “The IQ he has passing to the roller or pass it to the corner and stuff.”
Jaden McDaniels on being the new Kyle Anderson
“I don’t mimic his game but like Kyle, he’s super smart. He plays at his own pace and he’s kind of a point guard. I always joke and say I could be a point guard, but we not gonna talk about that(laughs). But yeah, the pace that Kyle… pic.twitter.com/nzovw6ErRF
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 27, 2025
He would also expand on Finch’s comments.
“I just be hoopin for real,” he said, “and if I see someone open imma pass it, and if I’m open, I shoot it.”
Could Jaden McDaniels really be Kyle Anderson?
Anderson only played two seasons with Minnesota, but 2022-23 was arguably the best season of his career. He shot 50.9% on 7.2 attempts per game, while making a career-best 41.0% on his threes. He added 5.3 rebounds and a career-high 4.9 assists per game, with 1.5 turnovers per game. Defensively, Anderson also added 0.9 blocks per game and 1.1 steals per game in 28.4 minutes per game.
His advanced statistics also paint a great picture of his impact. Anderson’s 113.9 offensive rating that year was 0.6 better than the Timberwolves’ rating as a team. Likewise, his defensive rating of 111.7 was 1.4 points better than Minnesota’s rating. His 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio was stellar, and almost double the Wolves’ 1.71 team ratio.
Anderson could guard all five positions on defense. In 2022-23, he spent 34.1% of his possessions defending guards, 59.3% on forwards, and 6.6% on centers. Overall, he held opponents to shooting 37.6% on threes and 47.7% from the field. He also forced 133 turnovers in 69 games.
Shockingly, McDaniels’ statistics this year aren’t too far off from Anderson’s. In a lot of cases, they’re better.
McDaniels is shooting 50.4% from the field and 41.0% on threes. His 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists are also near Anderson’s. And his 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks are nearly identical to Anderson’s. The largest difference is that he averages 1.8 more assists per game than turnovers compared to Anderson’s 3.25.
On the advanced stats side, McDaniels’ 117.5 offensive rating is 0.7 better than Minnesota’s team rating this season. His 110.9 defensive rating is 1.4 better than the team’s (112.3) and identical to Anderson’s. However, his 1.55 assist-to-turnover ratio is less than half that of Anderson’s, despite this being the second-highest ratio of McDaniels’ career.
However, McDaniels’ versatility matches Anderson’s. McDaniels spends 61.3% defensive minutes on guards, 28.6% on forwards, and 10.1% on centers while also holding opponents to shoot 43.9% from the field and 33.7% from three. He’s also forced 65 turnovers in just 31 games this year.
Aside from their assist-to-turnover ratios and assist numbers, McDaniels and Anderson are similar players statistically, considering Anderson’s usage was 14.3% and McDaniels’s is 18.6%. That suggests that while Anderson was able to do more with less usage as a playmaker, he still wasn’t a focal part of the offense. Instead, both players were important tertiary pieces on offense while being relied heavily on defense.
Realistically, the biggest difference between the fond memories of Anderson in 2022-23 and this season’s McDaniels is age. Anderson was 29 years old, whereas McDaniels is just 25. If you look back to Anderson’s age-25 season, his assist-to-turnover ratio was 2.21, much closer to McDaniels’.
At first glance, comparing Anderson and McDaniels sounds wild. However, on paper, the two players share many similarities. As McDaniels acknowledged, on the court, they do have the same slow-step finishing ability and connection with Gobert. While it may take years to determine whether the two players’ careers and styles mirror each other fully, at this point, I think it’s clear that McDaniels is much closer to Anderson than expected.