RandBall: Let’s take a moment to appreciate Jaden McDaniels

Jaden McDaniels' offensive game seemed to be on an upward trajectory during his first three seasons with the Wolves, with his shot volume, efficiency and scoring gradually improving each year.

And then last season, suddenly, it seemed to stall. McDaniels' scoring average dipped from 12.1 to 10.5 points per game from Year 3 to Year 4.

Perhaps more alarmingly, it was impossible to know what he might deliver from night to night, with a series of single-digit outputs interrupted tantalizingly by a 20-point game that proved to be a mirage. That was the story for the first part of this season, too, with McDaniels averaging 9.9 points in his first 39 games and scoring in single digits in 21 of them.

But when injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle created a scoring void for the Wolves, it unleashed a new version of McDaniels. He has scored in double figures in 24 of the Wolves' last 25 games, including five 20-point games in his last nine.

Randle and DiVincenzo are back playing heavy minutes, but McDaniels still is being aggressive on offense — the latest example being a 29-point outburst in a win Wednesday over Charlotte, the third straight for Minnesota.

As I talked about on Thursday’s Daily Delivery podcast, McDaniels' surge came at a great time. It also might have changed the narrative about his future and that of the Wolves' core.

McDaniels agreed to a five-year, $136 million contract extension at the start of the 2023-24 season, a deal that came on the heels of his offensive ascent and the start of his offensive decline.

For the next year-and-a-half, McDaniels still had value because of his defensive excellence/versatility and occasional offensive helpfulness. But the downward trend in his offensive game threatened to make his $27 million-a-year contract look bloated for a mostly one-dimensional player.

It was natural to wonder if the Wolves, with eyes on both winning in the present and preserving payroll flexibility in the future, might view McDaniels as expendable and consider a trade even if team decisionmakers publicly identified him as part of their future core.

McDaniels' last 25 games have considerably changed that narrative. He’s averaging nearly 17 points per game in that span and nearly eight rebounds as well (after getting just 3.1 boards per game a year ago).

Beyond the stats, the eye test shows a player who is more aggressively looking to score in different ways. Instead of settling for being a “three-and-D” guy (a role he is ill-suited for as a 35% career three-point shooter), McDaniels is attacking the basket and showing off a deft touch on mid-range shots (making 56.3% of his shots this season between 10 and 16 feet).

While 25 games is not a huge sample size, it isn’t just a couple of hot weeks. And while McDaniels probably will never be a primary scorer, he has shown the offensive chops to be a considerable secondary option.

Perhaps the player the Wolves have been waiting for has finally arrived.