Let’s start by saying it out loud: Jaden McDaniels is Anthony Edwards’ Scottie Pippen.
*exhale*
Okay, I said it. I know people reading this might have scoffed, laughed, or even snorted. But at some level, Minnesota Timberwolves fans all see it. Edwards is the brash, trash-talking star shooting guard ascending in the league, who even tucks his t-shirt into his sweats at practice as he lights up bench players in drills.
Anthony Edwards has finally missed… he resorted to not dribbling… not sure if that was the drill or Ant helping everyone out… everyone else is still dribbling pic.twitter.com/H68OTiSDgx
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) October 12, 2025
Then there is McDaniels, a 25-year-old prototypical small forward. He’s tall and lanky, a defensive anchor that is emotionless on the court, unless you’re specifically watching for his antics. He’s a player who has been improving every season quietly, in the darkness of Edwards’ spotlight.
Which, to Chicago Bulls fans in the late 80s and early 90s, feels oddly familiar.
Hop in the time machine with me and let’s travel back to 1990-91, Scottie Pippen’s age-25 season.
I wasn’t born until midway through the season. Zubaz were all the rage, Janet Jackson’s Black Cat hit the Billboard top 100’s No. 1 spot in October, and Michael Jordan’s Bulls are rolling. 1990-91 was Jordan’s second MVP season and Chicago’s first championship season.
Jaden McDaniels is 25 now; Scottie Pippen was 25 then. Pippen had already made the All-Star team the year before, his third season in the league. In his All-Star season, he averaged 16.5 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks. Meanwhile, he turned the ball over 3.4 times per game and logged 3.6 fouls, all while logging 38.4 minutes per game. The Bulls went 55-27 in Pippen’s age-24 season before losing to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pippen built off his breakout age-24 season in 1990-91. He finished second-team all-defense and ninth in MVP voting. Still, his counting stats were not as good as you may think. He averaged 17.8 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 36.8 minutes per game. Pippen wouldn’t finish in the top 20 of any statistics category other than steals, in which he finished fifth, but he was the second-best player on a 61-21 Bulls team that dominated the regular season.
Unfortunately, back in the pre-blog boy days, they didn’t keep track of advanced stats, so defensive/offensive ratings weren’t available. Still, we do have some that we can use to compare Pippen to McDaniels. The counting stats also matter, especially when averaged out to per 36 minutes for both players.
So, let’s compare the two:
That’s a lot of stats, so let me break it down.
Offense
The offensive comparison is difficult to see.
Scottie Pippen was a secondary hub for Chicago’s offense. He was second on the team in usage and thrived at the rim and in the mid-range. Pippen’s 30.9% three-point shooting and 70.6% free-throw shooting were both significantly lower than McDaniels’, resulting in a 6.4% gap in true shooting. However, Pippen excelled at the rim and the mid-range, an area that McDaniels is solid at, but doesn’t frequent as much.
As s a playmaker, Scottie Pippen also dwarfs Jaden McDaniels in his current role, even though they have similar turnover percentages. Pippen nearly doubles McDaniels in assists, likely due to Chicago’s Triangle offense, which allowed him to get easier baskets to cutting players or dump-offs into the post.
Meanwhile, the Wolves use McDaniels more as a creator after a pass to the corner, in which he drives to the basket. They are similar decision-makers, opting for the smart play over forcing an ill-advised pass. Still, they used Pippen much more in that role, increasing his statistics.
Jaden McDaniels has more offensive acumen than a 25-year-old Pippen. McDaniels is on pace to post a 50/45/85 season by percentage. He has excelled inside and out, off the dribble and off the catch. However, as a playmaker, Pippen’s ability to move the ball and create for others outweighs McDaniels.
Ultimately, McDaniels and Pippen are offensive players of their eras. In the year 2026, Pippen would likely learn to shoot better from three and have a lesser ball-handling role because Michael Jordan would be the heliocentric type of player that Anthony Edwards has become. The Triangle offense is outdated in modern basketball. A pace-and-space approach would likely morph his game into something similar to McDaniels’ – a Swiss Army knife on offense who can do it all but isn’t perfect at any one thing.
Likewise, with McDaniels, it’s easy to see how he would adapt his game to the late 80s and early 90s. He’s an intelligent player who, theoretically, could fit into a triangle offense, similar to how Lamar Odom would on the early-2010s Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant. His transition speed and decision-making would likely make him a similar, though not identical, player to Pippen.
On offense, at least at age 25, it’s fair to say they are comparable players. McDaniels and Pippen have unique skill sets that have molded to fit the era in which they play. However, both have flaws at age 25 and likely benefit from playing in a system alongside an all-time great player.
Defense
The defensive side, Scottie Pippen’s on-ball defense and Jaden McDaniels’ are fairly comparable. Pippen had more steals, but a lot of that was due to the difference in how the games were called. Defenders used to be able to hand-check, allowing Pippen to place a hand on an offensive ball handler, then stabbing at the ball for a steal with his off hand. The NBA no longer allows that, resulting in steals dropping off around the league since the mid-2000s
Kenny Smith explains it perfectly how once hand checking and physical permitter defense was eliminated totally in 2004-05 the game was much EASIER for guards and wings to score.
Guys today are NOT way more skilled than guys in the past, they just have WAY more freedom of… pic.twitter.com/SMpurUIB2p
— Jacob (@Jacobtheclipper) May 26, 2024
Both were lockdown defensive players at 25 who could guard multiple positions. The Bulls deployed Scottie Pippen against everyone except the tallest centers, much the same way the Minnesota Timberwolves deploy Jaden McDaniels. Pippen and McDaniels always defend the opposing team’s best scorer. Michael Jordan or Anthony Edwards would occasionally call their own number to guard the best player, but most of the defensive load fell to Pippen or McDaniels.
Pippen and McDaniels also benefited from all-world rim protection. McDaniels plays with four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Meanwhile, the Bulls had Horace Grant, a player somewhat lost to time. Still, he was an excellent physical rim protector. While playing for the Bulls in 1990-91, he was third on the Bulls in defensive win shares (3.8) behind Jordan (5.4) and Pippen (5.4), and integral to their post defense. For reference, a 3.8 defensive win shares usually ranks in the top 20 any given year.
Defensively, the players are remarkably similar, with the main difference being the steals per 36 statistic. While the players accomplished their tasks in different ways. Scottie Pippen was physically imposing and ripped the ball away, and Jaden McDaniels’ hedging off players. Both relied heavily on them to be their team’s win anchor and to take on the tough matchups. It’s easy to see Pippen in the year 2026, being slimmer and faster to make up for the new rules, and McDaniels being more imposing to take advantage of the physicality.
Rebounding
The most glaring difference between the two is in the player efficiency rating and rebounds. Pippen was a significantly better rebounder than McDaniels, especially given there were fewer total rebounds available due to the slower and more methodical pace of play of the era. And the rebounding difference shows up in the PER rating. It’s perhaps one of the biggest holes in McDaniels’ game. Given his size, McDaniels should be more effective on the glass, especially offensively.
However, McDaniels guards more guards and wing defenders than Pippen. In the modern NBA, more threes are taken out of isolation, meaning McDaniels is further away from the rim. However, while Pippen was closer to the rim, guarding the same players attempting mid-range shots or shots at the rim, he played in an era when two to four people were in the post at all times, and he had to outwork taller defenders.
Ultimately, Pippen was a better rebounder in their age 25 seasons. Pippen played in an era when he had to work for every board against much bigger defenders. Meanwhile, McDaniels should theoretically be able to snag long rebounds due to the space in the modern game.
Pippen’s rebounding gives him an edge
My conclusion from the stats and analysis is that, to this point in their careers, Jaden McDaniels is exceptionally similar to Scottie Pippen offensively and defensively. That’s going off age and not years played due to Pippen not entering the league until the age of 22.
However, Pippen has a clear edge as a rebounder. Pippen’s Hall of Fame career, in which he won six championships, made 7 All-Star appearances, and was named to 10 All-Defensive teams and 7 All-NBA teams. Those are large shoes to fill for McDaniels. However, as crazy as it may sound to say out loud, he’s on the right path.