Tim Connelly on extending Jaden McDaniels: ‘We’d love to get something done’
Jaden McDaniels has been a quiet young star in the NBA today, becoming one of the best defenders in the league. But, McDaniels is yet to see an extension this offseason, and president of basketball operations Tim Connelly views it as a must-have when regarding the star defender.
McDaniels is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie deal this season and will be eligible for a rookie scale extension until the beginning of the 2023-24 season. After a career year last season for McDaniels, averaging 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 steals, shooting 51.7 percent while sporting a 39.8 3-point percentage, Connelly would love to get the 22-year-old a new deal.
“We’d love to get something done,” Connelly told Jon Krawcyznski of The Athletic recently. “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.”
If McDaniels were to get a rookie scale extension, he would join LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton plus teammate and former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards, among others in the 2020 draft class, to receive an extension.
The Timberwolves season will tip-off on Oct. 25th at 7:30 pm ET against the Toronto Raptors.
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