Basketball

Mr. Untouchable for Timberwolves, Jaden McDaniels is ‘ready to show my game off’



The Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz had been going back and forth for a few weeks in June trying to find common ground on a Rudy Gobert trade, and it just wasn’t happening.

The talks had reached such a significant stalemate, sources told The Athletic, that by June 30 the Wolves had turned their attention to other trade partners in search of a big man to help them with rebounding and interior defense. The hang-up? The Jazz were insistent upon Jaden McDaniels being included in any package to get them to part with one of their franchise players. The Wolves, meanwhile, considered McDaniels off limits.

So there sat the biggest blockbuster trade of the summer, teetering on the brink of collapse over a third-year player who last season averaged 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and had one of the highest foul rates in the league. Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly had packed his offer to Utah with valuable role players and a jaw-dropping amount of draft capital — four first-round picks and a pick swap — partly in an effort to keep McDaniels out of the deal.

When the trade finally went down on July 1, many in the NBA world fretted about the steep price — three unprotected firsts in 2023, 2025 and 2027 and the top-five protected 2029 pick headed to Utah for a 30-year-old center who isn’t the kind of bucket-getter who traditionally commands a return.





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