Jaden McDaniels' offensive game seemed to be on an upward trajectory during his first three seasons with the Wolves, with his shot volume, efficiency and scoring gradually improving each year.
And then last season, suddenly, it seemed to stall. McDaniels' scoring average dipped from 12.1 to 10.5 points per game from Year 3 to Year 4.
Perhaps more alarmingly, it was impossible to know what he might deliver from night to night, with a series of single-digit outputs interrupted tantalizingly by a 20-point game that proved to be a mirage. That was the story for the first part of this season, too, with McDaniels averaging 9.9 points in his first 39 games and scoring in single digits in 21 of them.
But when injuries this year to Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle created a scoring void for the Wolves, it unleashed a new version of McDaniels. He has scored in double-figures in 24 of the Wolves' last 25 games, including five 20-point games in his last nine.
Randle and DiVincenzo are back playing heavy minutes, but McDaniels still is being aggressive on offense — the latest example being a 29-point outburst in a win Wednesday over Charlotte, the third straight for Minnesota.
As I talked about on [Thursday’s Daily Delivery podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/players-to-watch-as-the-vikings-enter-free-agency-two/id1550932167?i=1000698105459), McDaniels' surge came at a great time. It also might have changed the narrative about his future and that of the Wolves' core.
McDaniels agreed to a five-year, $136 million contract extension at the start of the 2023-24 season, a deal that came on the heels of his offensive ascent and the start of his offensive decline.
For the next year-and-a-half, McDaniels still had value because of his defensive excellence/versatility and occasional offensive helpfulness. But the downward trend in his offensive game threatened to make his $27 million a year contract look bloated for a mostly one-dimensional player.