The Minnesota Timberwolves have already shown this season that Jaden McDaniels is more than just a complementary piece. They’ve been putting the ball in his hands earlier, letting him operate with more freedom, and the results have been clear: 15 points per game while shooting 59.1 percent from the field.
But there’s still a gap in how the Wolves are using him. The early-game involvement has been there. The second-half follow-through has not.
That split showed up in the box score trends. McDaniels ranks second on the team in first-half field goal attempts, but he drops all the way to fifth in second-half shot attempts. That hasn’t mattered much in a 3-0 start built on control and dominance, but it became a real issue in Monday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
McDaniels was rolling in the opening half, putting up 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. After halftime, though, he took only three shots before fouling out in overtime. That’s a hard way to leave offense on the table, especially when the matchup was there for the taking.
To be fair, McDaniels only connected on one of those three second-half attempts, and Anthony Edwards was carrying the closing stretch. McDaniels also could have been more forceful himself. Still, there were clear moments when Minnesota could have kept feeding him, especially with the way the game was lined up.
The Wolves didn’t lose because McDaniels was underused alone. Rudy Gobert’s 0-for-9 night loomed large, and the missed free throws mattered too. Even so, McDaniels’ quiet second half was part of the problem, particularly with Minnesota needing offense beyond Edwards.
That’s what makes McDaniels so valuable in this group. The Wolves have enough creators to manufacture advantages, and that creates openings for him to attack.
Against Cleveland, James Harden was the primary defender, and McDaniels already showed in the first half that he could go after that matchup. Minnesota simply didn’t keep returning to it.
If the Timberwolves want the best version of this offense, they need to treat McDaniels like the option he’s become for all four quarters, not just the opening ones. His mismatch game works in the first quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth.
The Wolves have started to recognize that. Now they need to stick with it when the game tightens.
In Other News...
Tim Connelly Just Changed The Anthony Edwards Surgery Debate
Tim Connellys explanation added some clarity to the Anthony Edwards knee situation, and it made clear this was not simply a case of waiting out the offseason. The Timberwolves president of basketball operations said the arthroscopic procedure could not have happened earlier because recent imaging showed changes that made surgery necessary, turning what might have looked like a delayed maintenance issue into a more urgent medical decision.
The timeline matters, especially with Edwards dealing with a right knee problem after having inflammation there during the regular season. The latest imaging came after he felt discomfort following a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the distinction is important for Minnesota because this is not the left knee he injured in the playoffs. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Suddenly Have A Bigger Problem Than Their First Loss
For three straight games, the Timberwolves looked every bit like a team that planned to spend the season chasing a top seed rather than feeling its way through October. Then came their first real test, an overtime loss to Cleveland in which Anthony Edwards poured in 47 points and still could not drag Minnesota across the finish line, a reminder that even a fast start can crack once the schedule tightens and the margins get thin.
The bigger concern now is how much harder that margin just got to manage. Minnesota is already dealing with a free-throw issue that showed up in the Cleveland game and has been an ugly trend through the opening week, and the lineup picture looks far more unsettled with Edwards headed for a right knee procedure. A team that began the year with blowout wins suddenly has to answer a much more uncomfortable question: how long can it keep looking like a contender without its best offensive weapon? [Read more 🡒]
LaMelo Ball Now Faces The Pressure Minnesota Can't Escape
Anthony Edwards knee injury has left Minnesota in an uncomfortable spot, one it cant really paper over for the next stretch of the season. With its top scorer sidelined for more than two months, the Timberwolves are suddenly asking LaMelo Ball to carry the offense in a way that changes both the pace and the pressure of every possession.
Ball has the passing vision and creativity to help fill the void, but the question is how quickly he can translate that into a more demanding scoring role. The Wolves need him to be more than a lead guard who keeps things organized, and that shift brings a different kind of scrutiny as Minnesota tries to stay afloat without the player it usually leans on most. [Read more 🡒]