There's no question McDaniels delivers a big on-court impact for the Timberwolves, a team that's expected to be among the contenders. He'll remain in a starting role alongside elite fantasy performers such as Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert. However, McDaniels' contributions don't often translate into huge fantasy numbers outside of days when his shooting efficiency is above average. McDaniels suffered a decrease in his shooting numbers in 2023-24, as his field-goal percentage decreased from 51.7 to 48.9, and his three-point efficiency fell from 39.8 percent to a mere 33.7. The attention that players like Edwards and Randle will command could open up more shooting opportunities for McDaniels, and if he manages to take advantage of them, he could be a solid fantasy contributor again. He doesn't have a lot of upside, but his floor should remain high since he's entrenched into a starting role for a win-now team. As such, fantasy managers could take a late-round flier on him, but that's as high as he should go in most formats. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a five-year, $131 million contract extension with the Timberwolves in October of 2023.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary
McDaniels was born Sep. 29, 2000. His brother, Jalen, was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2019 NBA Draft. Jaden is also the cousin of former NBA player Juwan Howard. His father, Will McDaniels, and mother, Angela Jackson, are originally from the Windy City, Chicago. Jaden played high school basketball for Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington. He was teammates with his older brother Jalen and helped the school win its second straight Class 4A state title during his freshman campaign. McDaniels' stock began to rise from his junior campaign onward, and as a senior, he averaged 23.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, four assists and two blocks per game. He finished high school as the 2019 Class 4A Player of the Year and Washington Gatorade Player of the Year. He also played in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic. For college, McDaniels attended Washington and averaged 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks as a freshman. After that season, he declared for the 2020 NBA Draft. McDaniels entered his first and only season with Washington with a strong recruiting pedigree, and he lived up to the hype across 31 games (21 starts) for the Huskies. As a starter early in the season, he scored a career-high 22 points Dec. 22 against Ball State. That was one of four total 20-point efforts on the year. Serving as the primary power forward alongside Isaiah Stewart in the post, McDaniels finished the year with averages of 13.0 points and 5.8 rebounds. He also showcased his skills on the defensive end, finishing with the fourth-most blocks in the Pac-12 (43). Furthermore, the 6-9 forward was plenty capable from distance, making 43 three-pointers at a success rate of 33.9 percent. McDaniels declared for the draft after the season and later signed with an agent in April, cementing his intentions of going pro.
Posts decent stat line Saturday
FMinnesota Timberwolves
December 21, 2024
McDaniels closed with 10 points (4-12 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 1-2 FT), seven rebounds, two assists and one steal in 35 minutes during Saturday's 113-103 loss to Golden State.
ANALYSIS McDaniels was one of six Timberwolves players in double-digit scoring figures, and he's now managed to hit double-digit points in six of his last nine games despite Saturday's inefficient shooting display. Over this stretch, McDaniels is averaging 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.4 three-pointers per game. The 24-year-old forward's impact on the floor is more noticeable in the intangible areas outside the box score as Minnesota's top perimeter defender, so while he doesn't play a big role offensively, McDaniels' disruptive defense can translate to plenty of defensive counters for fantasy managers.
2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Starting/Off Bench
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Stat Review
How does Jaden McDaniels compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
True Shooting %
An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
Effective Field Goal %
A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
Free Throw Rate
Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
Offensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Defensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Total Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Assist %
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
Steal %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
Block %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
Turnover %
An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
Usage %
An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
Fantasy Points Per Game
NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
52.3%
Effective Field Goal %
50.8%
3-Point Attempt Rate
41.7%
Free Throw Rate
13.0%
Offensive Rebound %
5.2%
Defensive Rebound %
10.9%
Total Rebound %
8.1%
Assist %
8.5%
Steal %
1.9%
Block %
2.5%
Turnover %
8.1%
Usage %
15.5%
Fantasy Points Per Game
23.1
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.8
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Total
Per Game
Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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NBA Per Game Historical Fantasy Stats
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NBA Per 36 Historical Fantasy Stats
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Historical ADP
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Timberwolves Depth Chart
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Jaden McDaniels was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
Minutes
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
McDaniels is a promising aspect of this young Minnesota team, but he had an embarrassing end to his 2022-23 season. The defensive wingman broke his hand when he punched a wall in last year's season finale and missed the playoffs. That injury also came at a terrible time because McDaniels was playing the best basketball of his career. Over his final 22 games. McDaniels averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks on 53 percent shooting across 32 minutes a night. It's rare to see a player flirt with a steal and block per game, but his elite defensive profile makes it less surprising. The roster's outline limits his upside, though, because Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards dominate the ball-handling while Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert swallow up all the big man stats. That leaves McDaniels with all he can handle at the small forward position, but Kyle Anderson lurks behind him. This team needs McDaniels out there 30-35 minutes a night for his defense, but he's a back-end fantasy option in most formats.
Formerly the No. 7 recruit in his high school class, McDaniels slipped to the 28th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft but displayed some upside. However, his improvements last year were modest, and he regressed as a three-point shooter (1.1 makes per game at 31.7 percent). He averaged 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 combined blocks-plus-steals in 25.8 minutes. The Washington product remains raw offensively and hasn't succeeded in creating for himself. He'll either need to improve there or as a three-point shooter to make an impact outside of his decent-but-not-great offensive rebounding (1.5 ORB per 36 minutes). For that reason, he often ended up in the corner -- 23 percent of his shots were corner threes -- though he only converted those at a sufficient 36 percent. If he can't make those necessary improvements, the Wolves may turn elsewhere for wing minutes. Adding Rudy Gobert in the offseason will push Karl-Anthony Towns to power forward, eating up minutes at the position. After that, McDaniels must consistently outplay Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince to maintain his starting small forward spot. Anthony Edwards could also see time as a small forward in certain lineups. Believers in McDaniels could take a gamble on him with a flier in deeper leagues or keeper formats, but he's unlikely to become a meaningful asset in standard leagues. He ranked 188th last season in per-game fantasy production.
McDaniels, a former top-10 high school recruit, was drafted 28th overall last season. Surprisingly, he saw a significant role with the Timberwolves. His minutes and production started increasing nicely in March, and through his final 33 games, McDaniels averaged 8.3 points on 49/38/68 shooting, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 combined blocks-plus-steals. Over that stretch, he ranked 124th in terms of total production due to a clean bill of health. Despite the relative success, McDaniels opted to play in 2021 Summer League, where he averaged 16.3 points on 49/28/100 shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 combined steals-plus-blocks. McDaniels clearly has upside given his status as a recruit, and he did a good job of showing off his defensive upside as a rookie. If he can remain a consistent three-point shooter and take some steps in terms of creating his own looks, he could be a deep-league sleeper. That will probably also count on him seeing roughly 30 minutes per game, but the starting power forward job is seemingly an open competition for the Wolves between McDaniels, Jarred Vanderbilt and Taurean Prince.
McDaniels was selected by the Timberwolves (via the Lakers) with the 28th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft. McDaniels averaged 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 blocks during his lone collegiate season at Washington and could battle Jake Layman for reserve minutes in the front court.
More Fantasy News
Double-doubles in victory
FMinnesota Timberwolves
December 16, 2024
McDaniels chipped in 12 points (4-10 FG, 2-2 3Pt, 2-2 FT), 11 rebounds, one assist and four steals in 28 minutes during Sunday's 106-92 victory over the Spurs.
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Efficient in win over Lakers
FMinnesota Timberwolves
December 14, 2024
McDaniels had 18 points (7-11 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 2-3 FT), nine rebounds, two blocks and five steals in 36 minutes during Friday's 97-87 win over the Lakers.
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Records two steals
FMinnesota Timberwolves
December 9, 2024
McDaniels posted nine points (4-9 FG, 1-3 3Pt), four rebounds, three assists and two steals across 36 minutes during Sunday's 114-106 loss to the Warriors.
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Inefficient night Tuesday
FMinnesota Timberwolves
November 26, 2024
McDaniels totaled nine points (4-16 FG, 1-8 3Pt), five rebounds, two assists and one steal in 40 minutes during Tuesday's 117-111 overtime loss to the Rockets.
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Tallies season high in defeat
FMinnesota Timberwolves
November 22, 2024
McDaniels registered 22 points (8-15 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 4-4 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and two steals over 42 minutes during Thursday's 110-105 loss to the Raptors.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Offensive swing factor
FMinnesota Timberwolves
February 25, 2024
McDaniels "holds the keys" to maximizing the Timberwolves' offense down the stretch, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.
ANALYSIS McDaniels will always profile as a tertiary option, as Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are the engines of the offense, while Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert add a secondary dynamic. However, McDaniels being a pivotal weapon capable of taking the offense to the next level holds merit. His elite and versatile defense anchors a large role, and becoming a more consistent offensive weapon would boost Minnesota's contention hopes and make the starting unit potent at all five positions during postseason matchups.