Despite their extraordinary efforts to keep the band together, the Minnesota Timberwolves lost an invaluable player during the low season of 2025. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left for drawing with the Atlanta Hawks, which robbed Minnesota of 25.3 two-way minutes per high-level match.
Several players will be instructed to fill the void that Alexander-Walker has left behind, but they are Jaden McDaniels who have to take the most important step forward.
McDaniels has spent the past five seasons with strengthening his status as one of the best defending players in the NBA. He earned the recognition of the second team in 2023-24 and was a disputable snub in 2024-25 after having submitted a career year in various facets of the game.
While the Timberwolves are preparing to make a point for an elusive championship, it is the attack of McDaniels that has become a talk point.
McDaniels is not slow with attack. In 2024-25 he had an average career-best 12.2 points per match at 47.7 percent shooting from the field and an 81.3 percent on the charity. Unfortunately, he has now shot 33.7 percent or worse from outside the arch in successive seasons – and the time for patience is.
With Alexander-Walker from the comparison and uncertainty about what Terrence Shannon Jr. Realistic can offer in his second season, McDaniels has to rise the attack.
Timberwolves need Jaden McDaniels to improve offensively
In the past, McDaniels looked like a reliable shooter, which makes his recent misery rather confusing. He shot 36.4 percent at 3.1 three-point field target attempts per match such as Rookie and buried 39.8 percent of his 3.4 attempts per match in 2022-23.
Unfortunately, he only shot 31.7 percent in 2021-22, 33.7 percent in 2023-24 and 33.0 percent in 2024-25-value inevitable confusion about what an honest expectation really is.
There is reason for optimism with regard to the ability of McDaniels to straighten the ship and to become a more complete attacking player. He put new career-best figures in points, rebounds, offensive shelves, assists, blocks and steals per game per game in 2024-25, which shows a clear determination to improve.
McDaniels also shot a career-best 81.3 percent from the free saucepin in 2024-25 after only 72.2 percent of his attempts in 2023-24.
Because as intriguing as the other growth areas of McDaniels are, Alexander-Walker is simply not the type of player who can lose Minnesota and wait patiently to replace. He made an average of 12.9 points and 2.6 field goals with three points per 36 minutes in the past two seasons, shooting 38.6 percent from outside the arch on the road.
If McDaniels can return to the level that he displayed as a shooter in 2022-23, the Timberwolves may compensate for at least one element of what Alexander-Walker brought to the table.
The Timberwolves’ runs to the 2024 and 2025 Western Conference Finals embody how important an impact an efficient McDaniels can have on winning. He shot 40.0 percent on catch-and-shoot three during the 2025 NBA play-offs and 43.4 percent in 2024 with 33.2 and 34.8 percent during the respective regular seasons.
If McDaniels can discover the level of consistency that Minnesota needs him, it is fair to believe that the Timberwolves can avoid the misery in the early season that they plagued them in 2024-25.
Moreover, they may be able to reduce the loss of Alexander-Walker.
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