Jaden McDaniels has made his reputation in the NBA largely on the defensive end of the floor. This led to McDaniels making the Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend alongside teammate Anthony Edwards.
However, McDaniels isn't really planning on showcasing what got him there once he gets to Cleveland in two weeks.
"I'm not playing defense," McDaniels said with a smile Saturday.
Instead, McDaniels is going to treat the game as most players do, an opportunity to have fun and soak up a unique weekend. McDaniels had to upend vacation plans because he wasn't sure he was going to be selected.
"Just being in it is a surreal moment," McDaniels said.
This is the first time McDaniels has received such recognition from the league. Last season, media members passed him over for the All-Rookie teams, but as coach Chris Finch has said, those around the league have taken notice of how good McDaniels has been.
"He has a lot of fans around the league, I do know that," Finch said. "A lot of coaches or opposing players know he's a tough matchup, and he's really playing well and, at the right time, caught the eye of the league."
McDaniels portrays a calm demeanor even as he said he's excited to go to All-Star weekend. Some of his teammates sounded happier than he did Saturday.
"I got my Jaden McDaniels jersey ready and all," center Karl-Anthony Towns said. "I'm just so excited for him. … People didn't look his way. Now that people are recognizing his talent and what he brought to this team and everything he is as a basketball player. That's what I get excited for, that's what I get giddy for. He's worked his tail off to be even noticed."
He's also worked on trying not to foul as much and has seen results the longer the season goes.
McDaniels was committing too many fouls early in the season to the point he wasn't on the floor very long to guard some of the tougher players on opposing teams.
The coaching staff worked with him on that – to keep his hands back and not to reach. Over his past 20 games he's averaging just 2.8 fouls per game as opposed to 3.8 his first 20.
"Just being more disciplined," McDaniels said. "You'll start to notice when you just have your hands high, they might end up missing anyway. My arms are long enough just to contest. If they make it, I'm super tall, so good shot, I guess."
His shot has also started to come around. In his past eight games McDaniels is shooting 42% from three-point range after struggling from outside to start the season. (He's at 29% overall for the season).
Finch said the Wolves have been working with McDaniels to make his high-arcing shot a little flatter. That's a product of being so tall (6 feet 9). They've also worked with him not to get so upset over misses.
"We think there's a lot of variation in that shot when it's so high," Finch said. "He has long levers, like a big windup, but generally, I think it's not living and dying with the result of every shot. That way you can compartmentalize what happens out there."
McDaniels said given his height, not much can go wrong in the mechanics of his shot for him to make it. He found he had a tendency to lean back before shooting and has been working on keeping his shoulders forward.
"My arms are so long that one little mess-up can mess the whole shot up," McDaniels said.
He'll have some extra practice with his shot at All-Star weekend, especially since nobody, including him, plans on playing defense.
"We all could see the talent he has and been having ever since he was a rookie," Towns said. "Me and D-Lo [D'Angelo Russell] had so many conversations about him and how great he could be and the ceiling for him; really there isn't one. Sky's the limit of what he wants to accomplish in this league. Just super excited he's trending on the right path."
