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Should Minnesota Make Jaden McDaniels a Star or a Bargaining Chip?

The Timberwolves have the NBA's worst team, but talent on the roster. Will they part with it?
Dan Raley|
Should Minnesota Make Jaden McDaniels a Star or a Bargaining Chip?
Should Minnesota Make Jaden McDaniels a Star or a Bargaining Chip?

The Minnesota Timberwolves, at 10-34, are the worst team in the NBA.

With an average age of 24, they're also the youngest.

As trade deadline fast approaches on Thursday at noon PT, this franchise can't win right now with what it puts on the floor, but it possesses a bargaining chip.

Its youth, namely Jaden McDaniels.

The former University of Washington forward has been a pleasant surprise as an NBA rookie, far more willing to take his pro basketball career seriously than advertised.

That's called maturity.

It happens to a lot of players.

Not a finished product by any means, but McDaniels is a talented player with considerably more upside than the league envisioned, which is one reason he wasn't drafted until No. 28 in last fall's draft, the second player selected by Minnesota after guard Anthony Edwards went No. 1.  

The Wolves have to ask themselves are they willing to deal the 6-foot-9 McDaniels for ready-made veteran talent and stop the bleeding?

Or are they willing to call this season a wash and wait for their rookies Edwards and McDaniels to form the foundation of the franchise that eventually will change the team's direction? 

It's now or later.

Minnesota inserted McDaniels in the starting lineup on Wednesday night and he finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, a block and an assist in 29 minutes, but the Wolves lost 128-108 at home to the Dallas Mavericks.

His NBA team has found him to be a much stronger defender than expected with the ability to shoot the 3-pointer, and the capability to become a much bigger scorer in time. 

Can they wait for McDaniels to grow up and chance alienating their fan base by making them suffer until then?

With his 36-game NBA audition so far, McDaniels has shown what he can do to anyone interested and erased a lot of questions about his subpar showing at the UW.

Would the others around the league be willing to offer enough to pry him loose from the Timberwolves?

McDaniels has become a coach’s dream, so young, raw, and extremely versatile.

The Wolves won't give him away.

Edwards, that top pick, an immediate starter and a big scorer, is untouchable.

Do you keep them both?

Or just one?

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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