As a former first-round pick entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, Timberwolves wing Jaden McDaniels is eligible for a rookie scale extension until the day before the 2023/24 regular season starts.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said after last season ended that both Anthony Edwards and McDaniels would receive lucrative extension offers this offseason once they became eligible. Edwards signed a maximum-salary deal in July, but McDaniels has yet to ink his own new contract.
Speaking to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic on his podcast, Connelly was hopeful about coming to terms on an extension with the young forward, who turns 23 next week.
“We’d love to get something done,” Connelly told Krawcyznski. “We want Jaden to be here as long as possible. Oftentimes those back-and-forths pick up more as the season gets closer, but fingers crossed. In my experience in Denver and here, we like to reward people who earned it. Jaden is a huge part of what we’re doing now. He’s going to get better and better and better. Great kid. And we think his best basketball is in front of him.
“As I told Jaden and his representation, the cool thing about extension talks is they should be overwhelmingly positive. The fact that you want an extension speaks to the team’s excitement about his upside. Very few guys are fortunate to get extensions, so again we’re hopeful we can meet that point where we’re both happy with something moving forward. I think he’s going to have a good year and we hope he’s here for a long, long time.”
Players eligible for rookie scale extensions can sign new deals that run for up to five years, with those contracts taking effect beginning in ’24/25. If they don’t sign extensions this offseason, those players will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2024.
When we covered him as an extension candidate, we projected McDaniels could receive a deal in the range of $25MM annually — it will be interesting to see how much he actually makes if a deal comes to fruition.
Twolves would crazy to give this guy 25m per year. 15-18m would be more reasonable.
As a die-hard Wolves fan I, too agree (initially) that 25 mil is too much. I do really like Jaden, and if he hasn’t been an idiot at the end of last season we could have made a bit more noise. But anyways. Considering his age, existing production, upside and year-to-year improvement, I actually do think that he’ll get 25 mil for 5 years. It’s a risky bet to let him play this year and hit the market after another improved year of production (I know, he’ll be restricted). I think you pay the guy know and believe that in two years he will be a bargain for the next three years.
Honestly, is saving yourself $7 million worth it? I think $25 million might be low. McDaniels is an elite defender. He recorded 75 blocks and 70 steals last season while opposing players expected FG% dropped by 7% at the rim. He also spent more time defending All-Stars than any player in the league. He’s dependable as he only missed three games. He also showed near elite shooting hitting .398 from deep. If McDaniels and Edwards put it together this season this team could make some very serious noise.
MIN has no good reason to extend McDaniels now, other than FO laziness. Of course, guys heading into year 4 of their RSC’s are often extended for no good reason, other than that.
Early extension or not, the coming year is going to be a telling one for McDaniels, individually, and in terms of his fit with this team. The two bigs may or may not work well, but if it does, using McDaniels as a 3 alongside them is going to be a work in progress at best. His defense will play at any spot(s), but he’s not a natural perimeter player on the other end. The RSC gives them a year to see about the mix, while his contract retains trade value as long as its not extended. That flexibility is a valuable asset, that shouldn’t be tossed aside. Particularly by a team that doesn’t have tradable draft picks for awhile.