Dare to Dream? Imagine Jaden McDaniels Flourishing in a Sonics Uniform
As the buzzing crowd fills up spanking new Climate Pledge Arena at the Seattle Center, the reassembled Sonics basketball team jogs jogs onto the floor and goes through warm-ups.
Owner Alex Rodriguez stands on the sideline and smoozes with others surrounding him in expensive suits.
Jaden McDaniels, in his crisp green and white uniform with a Space Needle logo sewn onto the shorts, works the perimeter, finding his stroke before tipoff.
It is 2023 and the smooth 6-foot-9 forward is the new Kevin Durant, appropriately a ready replacement for the superstar who went out the door with Seattle's dismantled NBA franchise 15 years earlier.
It's a feel-good moment for everyone in the Emerald City and double the fun with McDaniels at the top of his game.
Pro basketball constructed around a local kid all grown up now and an established pro player.
Paid for by Seattle's former baseball slugger now much more admired as a money source than he was as a money drain.
Total pipe dream?
Not at all.
With the recent disclosure that Rodriguez and e-commerce billionaire Marc Lore are positioning themselves to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, speculation is widespread that the former Mariner might consider uprooting the NBA franchise and put it in Seattle.
In real time, McDaniels, a Northwest enigma as a somewhat immature and disinterested University of Washington player, picks up more pro basketball fans each week as his game evolves. They see him supply breath-taking offensive skills when prodded while he initially concentrates on his disruptive defense spurred by his 6-foot-11 wingspan and shot-blocking ability.
There was a time when Seattle thought the Sonics might never come back and McDaniels wouldn't amount to anything.
Both are possibilities now.
McDaniels is dedicating himself to becoming a memorable player. While he still plays with a doe-eyed, emotionless expression on his face, he admits to enjoying himself.
"I'll say I'm just being passionate about the game and just being in the mindset I have, and I have kind of a straight face, but I'm happy all the time," he recently told Timberwolves reporters. "I'll say it's just being in the game and it can be so intense, I try be so locked in, and there's just really no time to smile until after we win."
In 47 games, McDaniels has become a full-fledged starter at power forward as a Timberwolves rookie. While he averages a modest 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, pro basketball-savvy fans can clearly see the physical gifts and the immense potential.
The most amazing thing about the Federal Way, Washington, native is he appears to have fully embraced the game's nuances far more than he ever let on at the UW. He's been singled out as an excellent cutter who understands necessary spacing to prevent the Timberwolves offense from bogging down.
Of course, he often has a feathery shooting touch, hitting 43 percent of his attempts overall, and he's been far more selective in his shot attempts than he was in college.
More surprising, McDaniels has proved to be a highly adept passer, making him appear as clever and unselfish offensively as he seemed under self-inflicted basketball restraints with the Huskies, certainly under developed by the coaching staff.
But it begins with his defense, which has set himself apart from other young players who've come through the league in recent times.
"I can't remember a 20-year-old defender, a rookie, coming in and having this type of impact, battling the multitude of positions and making a great impact for his team and his teammates," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
To make this basketball daydream complete in Seattle, A-Rod and his fellow financial backers need to cut a deal and then pull up the moving vans in Minneapolis.
They next have to order some vintage Sonics uniforms.
And save No. 3 for McDaniels.
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