ORLANDO — Jaden McDaniels has become a walking meme in six years in Minnesota, his expressionless face turning into an enduring image in this Timberwolves renaissance.
Is he happy? Is he upset? Excited? Bored? It is almost impossible to tell just by looking at him. Except for on Wednesday night. After hearing his name announced in the starting lineup against the Orlando Magic, marking his return from a six-game absence, he joined his teammates in a huddle near the 3-point line, where Bones Hyland was busting a move in a makeshift dance circle.
Then he smiled. It wasn’t just a grin or a smirk. It was an ear-to-ear, teeth-unveiling beam. For most players in the NBA, being out six games with a bone bruise on their left knee would be nothing to even blink about. For McDaniels, these last two weeks have felt like an eternity.
“Six games is a lot for me,” he said. “It felt long. I think it was a gift and a curse. Get to rest a little bit and now use these last games to get my rhythm back and just find the flow back with the teammates.”
McDaniels scored 18 points in 19 minutes of a 132-120 loss to the Magic. He made 8 of 16 shots, grabbed two rebounds and picked up two assists while sprinkling in some of his favorite pastimes, including a delay of game warning and a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk. It was almost as if he never left.
“It just felt good to play basketball again and be able to run up and down the court, play with my teammates and just be hooping for real,” he said.
The Wolves went 2-4 in his absence. Anthony Edwards missed four of those games as well, leaving the Timberwolves lost at sea, careening toward the rocky shore as the playoffs approach. In years past, the Wolves would fixate on McDaniels’ superior defensive versatility as what they missed most in his absence. But in his sixth season, he has emerged as a true two-way player, someone valued nearly as much for his shot creation and floor spacing as his lockdown defense. He is averaging career highs in points (14.8), 3-point percentage (.421) and assists (2.7), becoming one of the Wolves’ most reliable and helpful offensive players.
The Wolves were 28th in offensive rating during McDaniels’ absence. It was a small sample size, but they were flailing. McDaniels had one of his best games of the season before his injury, scoring 25 points in a win over the Houston Rockets on March 25.
“You kind of take for granted a little bit what he does do every single night, whether it be guarding at one end, and he’s become not just a consistent offensive player, but a guy you can go to when you need something like as a second option,” coach Chris Finch said. “As a go-to guy, you can steer your offense through him.”
When McDaniels was injured, the diagnosis seemed a bit ominous. Bone bruises can be very painful and take a long time to heal. But those within the team and around McDaniels believed he could make it back before the regular season ended. He was with the Wolves on all three games of a road trip last week, providing optimism that he wasn’t as far away as feared. Watching his team lose to the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets, he started to stew.
“Watching us struggle, Jaden kept saying, ‘I gotta get back, I gotta get back. My teammates need me,’” Finch said. “Once he was talking like that, I knew he was going to come back ahead of schedule.”
The Timberwolves (47-33) have two games left in the regular season, including a game at Houston on Friday and the home finale against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. Their victory at the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, coupled with the Phoenix Suns’ loss to the Rockets, clinched a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Getting McDaniels back now gives them a chance to get some important game action in before the playoffs begin in 10 days.
“We’re cautious with him, but we also need to get him into shape for what’s ahead,” Finch said.
McDaniels missed four of his five 3s, but was 7 of 11 from 2-point range, including a soaring dunk in the first half that let him know his knee was just fine.
“If I would’ve been scared, I probably wouldn’t have dunked,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
This is what his teammates have been waiting for since he went down. McDaniels is one of the most popular players in the Timberwolves’ locker room, beloved for his quick wit, his unmatched work ethic and his overall importance to their hopes of another deep playoff run. He may be quiet, but he is confident, imbuing this team with a swagger that makes them believe they can take on all comers.
“It means a lot,” to have him back, said his friend and teammate, Naz Reid. “He’s feeling better. It was good to see him start to get a rhythm back. That’s what you want at this time of year.”
Some of that confidence has manifested as arrogance this season. There is a reason the Wolves did not lock down a top-six seed until the 79th game of the season. They have played for much of the year like a team that believes there is a switch to be flipped come playoff time, that the 82 regular-season games are beneath them.
But these last three games of the regular season? They are suddenly quite important, even if the Wolves can’t do anything to improve their standing. They seem to be barreling toward a 3-6 matchup with the Denver Nuggets, who are a familiar foe that is rolling with 10 straight victories.
The priority now is getting the team healthy and in a rhythm that has rarely been seen this season. To that end, Edwards, who has missed 10 of the last 12 games, could be nearing a return as well. He went through a pregame workout on Wednesday night, and Finch said the hope is Edwards can get a game or two under his belt before the regular season ends.
“We’re hopeful, for sure,” Finch said. “We’ve got to get him back and up to speed.”
With the fifth seed out of reach, the Wolves rested several of their most important players in Orlando. Julius Randle sat for the first time all season. Rudy Gobert, Ayo Dosunmu and Mike Conley were also out on the second night of a back-to-back. All of that firepower on the bench made it easier for the Wolves to funnel things through McDaniels and Reid, who has been struggling recently, in an effort to get them both going.
Reid had 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 24 minutes, backing up a strong game in Indiana on Tuesday when he scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
“Naz’s game today was awesome,” Finch said. “That’s two games in a row it looks like he’s back a little bit more like himself. He found his touch. I really liked how he made a lot of gritty plays defensively.”
Terrence Shannon Jr. led the way with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go with five assists. Donte DiVincenzo hit 4 of 7 3s in 21 minutes, all small steps in the right direction for players who have not been on point in recent weeks.
If the Wolves beat the Rockets on Friday and the Pelicans on Sunday, they will match their win total from last season. That would be a disappointment for a team that expected to be one of the best teams in the West after bringing almost everyone back from the conference finalists. But it is also a team that can now lean on that experience with the playoffs just around the corner.
“We’ve got a couple games left,” Reid said. “Some guys are starting to feel like themselves, including myself. That’s huge for this time of year.”