Matty Writes Sports

Since the turn of the new year, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been a rather average NBA organisation, holding a record of 16-14 in the calendar year, however, the team has missed significant pieces during this time span. For example, both members of the KAT trade package, namely Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo have missed significant time. DiVincenzo was ruled out for a month and a half with a toe injury, and Randle missed the entirety of February as well.

The Timberwolves then, may look to have done rather well in the absence of both players; both are significant pieces to the Timberwolves’ puzzle, and maintaining a positive record in a stacked Western conference can only be a positive for the Wolves. So what helped them?

Of course, Anthony Edwards is still healthy, and scoring a hell of a lot of points, helping lead the Wolves to victory several times. 49 in a win against the Chicago Bulls, 41 in a decisive victory over the Houston Rockets and a huge game sealing block on the MVP front runner, Shai Gilgeous Alexander to seal a huge come from behind victory in Oklahoma City.

But Ant has been the Timberwolves’ main guy for the last three seasons and, thus, his stats aren’t anything new, minus his absurd volume of 3 point attempts this season.

Instead, a lot of the Timberwolves’ victories point to only one man.

Jaden McDaniels.

Sure, he might be the subject of an infamous clip where he was compared to 14 time All Star and top 15 player of all time Kevin Durant, but McDaniels has been the glue for the Timberwolves in 2025. The lanky wing out of Federal Way, Seattle has been a full time starter for the Timberwolves since 2022, but now, the 24 year old has been showing why he was so highly rated coming into the NBA.

The main part of his game that still had some lingering questions were about McDaniels’ contributions on offence. There’s no doubting the former Washington Husky on the defensive side; one of the strongest perimeter defenders in the NBA, able to lock up players from positions 1-4, earning him a spot on the NBA All Defensive 2nd team for the 2023-24 Season. Jaden has some serious chops on defence.

However, it’s always been his offence that has somewhat lagged behind his defensive game. McDaniels rarely venturned out of the corner on offence too often before Randle and DiVincenzo’s injuries, where he was shooting a pretty grisly percentage from 3 point land, and averaging under 10ppg for the first time since his sophomore season in the league.

However, Jaden has since been flourishing in his new role on offence, being able to create his own shot from the mid range. He can consistently get to his spots on the floor and land shots, especially inside of the 3 point line. On the season, McDaniels is only shooting 32.3% from behind the line, and only 30% from the corner. If McDaniels is able to create shots outside of the corner, it allows the Minnesota offence to flow much better and give McDaniels the confidence he needs to continue hitting his shots.

The results of McDaniels improved offensive game are pretty clear to see. On the 8th February, he hit his first career 30 point game, shooting 12-17 (70.6%) from the floor in a victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. In fact, all of McDaniels’ top 3 highest scoring games have come in the absence of Randle and DiVincenzo; the others being 27 point efforts, both in victories. One in that aforementioned comeback W against the 1 seeded OKC Thunder, and another in a close battle with the Dallas Mavericks.

If the Timberwolves are to achieve their goals this season, Jaden McDaniels and his improved offence will be key to any such success.