Jaden McDaniels on five-year, $131 million extension with Timberwolves: ‘It’s a life-changing thing’

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels shoots while Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks defends on Jan. 27, 2023, at Target Center in Minneapolis.

By Jace Frederick / St. Paul Pioneer Press

October 25, 2023 at 3:04 PM

The way in which his bank account will expand soon has not hit Jaden McDaniels quite yet.

Perhaps that’s why he celebrated the signing of his five-year, $131 million contract extension this week with a meal at Olive Garden — no offense to the affordable Italian restaurant chain.

“It’s a life-changing thing,” McDaniels said. “It’s a huge number, as big a number as I’ve ever seen. I’m happy to have it.”

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McDaniels’ representation and the Timberwolves came to terms on the deal hours ahead of the NBA’s extension deadline Monday. Throughout the process, the 23-year-old wing noted he was letting his agents handle negotiations while he focused on basketball. He said he was “super happy and just happy” that the deal ultimately got done.

“I just thank (Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly) and all the owners for the opportunity and believing in me,” said McDaniels, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. “My agents always told me we got to be patient. Play the waiting game, kind of. I knew he told me it always heats up the last two or three days, so I kind of knew towards the end, he had gave me a call a day or two before. I didn’t know the numbers, I just knew we were getting closer and closer.”

McDaniels, Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid — all of whom are between the ages of 22 and 24 years old and all of whom share tight bonds — signed new deals with the Timberwolves this offseason. Edwards and McDaniels are signed with Minnesota through the 2028-29 season, while Reid is locked in with the Wolves for the next two seasons, with a player option for the 2025-26 season.

That locks in the stability Minnesota’s young players have experienced of late. McDaniels noted those three, as well as Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan McLaughlin, are entering their fourth consecutive season together.

“I feel like we’ve all been building together well,” he said.

And, he noted, he feels the Timberwolves take strides as an organization every season. That’s what gives him confidence the Wolves can contend for the duration of the deal he just signed. Of course, part of that equation is his own development. McDaniels, who is day to day with a left calf strain and was ruled out of the team’s season opener Wednesday in Toronto, already has proven himself to be one of the top perimeter defenders in the NBA, while also sporting a growing offensive arsenal.

McDaniels said fans can expect more of the same going forward, “just at a higher level.”

His goals this season are to make an All-NBA Defensive team, an honor he likely missed out on last season only because of a lack of name recognition, and push for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

McDaniels’ new contract almost comes with the expectation that he’ll be in contention for such honors. That’s now the echelon of players that he has entered in terms of financial compensation.

In college at Washington, McDaniels noted, his goal was to get to the NBA and get a contract.

“But when I got here, I never really thought about, from my rookie year to now, playing for a contract,” he said. “I was just kind of hooping.”

And that’s also the plan moving forward.

“I try to stay in my own lane, really, and just do my own work,” McDaniels said. “I feel like if I work and do what I have to do, it’ll take care of itself.”

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