Jaden McDaniels is still getting treated like a nice piece instead of a real problem for opponents, and that’s part of why his ranking at 17th on HoopsHype’s top small forwards for the 2026-27 season feels so off.
McDaniels is coming off the strongest year of his NBA career, and at 26 later this month, there’s still room for more growth - especially if the offense keeps trending up. That matters, because the 2020 first-round pick just put together a season that looked like a real leap rather than a small step.
In 2025-26, McDaniels averaged 14.8 points per game, which was a career high by 2.6 points in his sixth season. He also knocked down 41.2 percent of his 3-pointers and 83.5 percent of his free throws, both career bests.
Seven times during the season, he scored at least 25 points. Before the year began, he had reached that mark only eight times in his career.
His shot disappeared against the Denver Nuggets in the opening round of the 2026 postseason, but that didn’t erase the rest of what he brought. He kept attacking the rim for baskets, and he spent the series hounding All-Star Jamal Murray on defense. And then there was the 32-point explosion in Game 6, the kind of night that reminds everyone what he can do when it all comes together.
That’s why 17th looks light.
There are names above him that are hard to square with what McDaniels just did. Devin Vassell is listed five spots ahead at 12th, and while Vassell has been the steadier 3-point shooter over time, he doesn’t clearly have the edge over McDaniels in much else.
Norman Powell sits 12th as well, even though McDaniels was better from deep last season by percentage, and Powell has also seen his numbers fall off sharply after the All-Star break in each of the last two years. Defensively, Powell isn’t close to McDaniels.
Even the rookie placement raises eyebrows. AJ Dybantsa comes in six spots ahead of McDaniels at 11th, which is a lot to ask for a 19-year-old who turns 20 on January 29. The upside is obvious, but rookies usually don’t make their teams better on the floor even when the box score looks good.
McDaniels still has one more box to check if he wants to reach his ceiling: proving the improved outside shot is real and not just a one-season spike. But he’s already elite on one end and getting better on the other. That should put him much higher than 17th.
In Other News...
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The Timberwolves have the kind of starting group that can make a roster look solid on paper, but the margins behind it remain worth watching. Frontcourt depth is the main concern, especially with only Joan Beringer and Trey Lyles available as backup bigs on standard contracts, which leaves the team a little thin if injuries or foul trouble start to pile up.
Minnesota does have an open roster spot, and that gives the front office some flexibility as it weighs veteran options such as Drew Eubanks or Kelly Olynyk, along with the possibility of a trade deadline move. The team could also patch things together with two-way or 10-day contracts, but the question is whether that is enough for a group with bigger ambitions once the season starts to get tested. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Already Face One Big Offensive Question With LaMelo and Ant
The Timberwolves new backcourt pairing brings plenty of juice, but it also comes with an early roster-building question: how do they keep the offense humming when Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are both out of the game? Chris Finch has already made clear he does not see a need to lean on either star for all 48 minutes, which means Minnesota will have to make those non-star stretches count if it wants to maximize what those two can do together.
Balls workload is expected to be managed carefully, so the Wolves are going to have to find scoring from elsewhere in the rotation. Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland are among the players expected to help fill those gaps, and how well that support group holds up could go a long way toward determining whether Minnesotas offense stays steady or bogs down whenever its two headliners sit. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Kuminga Already Puts The Wolves In A Tough Spot
The Timberwolves have added Jonathan Kuminga on a two-year contract, and the early read is that he is being slotted in as the starting power forward. It is the kind of move that can reshape a rotation quickly, especially for a team trying to sharpen its frontcourt and get clear answers about how the pieces fit around him.
The interesting part is what happens if the fit is not as smooth as expected. Minnesota would then have to decide whether to keep Kuminga in that role or rethink his usage, and that is where the history matters. He was not especially comfortable with coming off the bench during his time with the Warriors, so any future move out of the starting group could become a sensitive part of the equation. [Read more 🡒]