After a breakout season in 2022-23, swingman Jaden McDaniels reached an agreement with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a five-year, $136 million contract extension on Monday, his agents told The Athletic's Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski.
ESPN's Bobby Marks provided a breakdown of the salary structure:
Bobby Marks @BobbyMarks42Jaden McDaniels rookie extension structure in Minnesota.<br><br>$131M total and $5M in bonuses (All-NBA Defense and DPOY) <a href="">
McDaniels was set to enter the final year of his rookie-scale contract after the Timberwolves exercised the $3.9 million club option on his deal. This move comes after Minnesota signed star guard Anthony Edwards to a five-year rookie max extension worth up to $260 million earlier this offseason.
Charania noted that the Timberwolves are now committed to being a luxury-tax team for the first time in nearly 20 years thanks to their deals with McDaniels, Edwards, Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly told Krawczynski in September that the team would "love to get something done" on a long-term deal for McDaniels. Now, it appears both sides got what they desired.
The 28th pick in 2020, McDaniels averaged career highs of 12.1 points and 30.6 minutes per game as well as 51.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.8 percent from three-point range in 2022-23. He started all 79 games he played and contributed 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 blocks per contest.
McDaniels established himself as one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders, consistently locking up some of the league's top stars. He was surprisingly not named to the All-Defensive teams despite his impressive efforts this year.
Unfortunately, the 23-year-old's campaign ended on a sour note when he punched a wall out of frustration during Minnesota's regular-season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans, which caused him to break his hand. He was forced to sit out the T'Wolves' play-in tournament matchups as well as the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, which Minnesota lost 4-1.
Still, the Timberwolves believe in McDaniels enough to reward him with a new contract. He will be a big part of the team's future, and he has the potential to develop into one of the top two-way players in the league.
Minnesota will open its 2023-24 season on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors.
