Jaden McDaniels sat in front of his locker for much longer than normal after the Minnesota Timberwolves started their post-All-Star break stretch run with a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. It had been a rough night for him, with foul trouble on the defensive end and missed shots on the offensive end, and he had the look of a 23-year-old searching for answers.

He stared straight ahead, shaking his head on occasion in frustration and gritting his teeth while he chatted quietly with Naz Reid. There have been nights like that one before, probably a few more than he would like this season. But this was one of those games that seemed to sit with him a little longer.

Not even 24 hours later, McDaniels came alive in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets, hitting two big 3-pointers with an assist to help the sluggish Wolves offense finally get a little rhythm going in a much-needed victory. He has earned a reputation for being one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, but McDaniels’ ability to generate consistent offense will loom large as they try to nail down the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

“Key for this last 27 games for us is his high-level consistent play, for sure, is going to have to be there,” Finch said last week before the Wolves kicked off their stretch run. “His consistency is still moving in the right direction.”

McDaniels might have the most difficult job on Wolves roster. He is often the fifth option on offense, beholden to the decision-making of Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. But Finch often calls him the barometer for the Wolves offense. When he is active and involved, cutting and scoring, the Wolves look potent. When he is drifting, quiet and detached, it usually means the Wolves offense has gotten bogged down with over-dribbling, little ball movement and bad shot selection.

That was also the case in the first half against Brooklyn on Saturday, one of the worst offensive halves of their season. They scored 42 points, shot 39 percent, had only 11 assists and turned the ball over nine times. And the barometer? McDaniels had just one shot and one rebound in 15 minutes.

“If the ball gets sticky, he’s often the guy that’s really affected the most because the ball doesn’t find him,” Finch said.

That generally means Edwards and Towns are dominating the ball a little too much. The two combined to take 49 shots against the Bucks on Friday night, making only 19 of them. That aggressiveness that was counterproductive because it stagnated the offense and made them too predictable. The game got away from them in a 36-13 third quarter in which Edwards went 1 for 8, including 0 for 3 from deep.

“Just sloppy offense. One pass, one shot,” said Rudy Gobert, who had 12 points and 19 rebounds against the Bucks and missed the game against the Nets with a sprained ankle. “Then not matching them defensively, not having any type of urgency to get back. Those guys are pretty good. If you don’t have that same level of urgency for 48 minutes, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

McDaniels had just two points on 1-for-5 shooting and one rebound in 24 minutes, playing time that was limited by early foul trouble while taking on the gargantuan task of guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The fouls made finding a rhythm on offense, and even his teammates looking for him, difficult.

“If (Edwards and Towns) aren’t moving the ball and making the easy play for the benefit of their teammates like we had been doing for pretty much the whole month, then Jaden’s definitely a guy on the outside looking in,” Finch said.

Last season McDaniels averaged 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from 3, a promising third season that ended prematurely when he broke his hand while inadvertently punching a wall. He was missed in the 4-1 playoff loss to Denver, but the two-way promise he put on display earned him a five-year, $136 million extension last summer, cementing him as part of the team’s core going forward.

His role has changed some this season because Towns has been healthy. Last year KAT missed 51 games with a calf injury. That opened up more opportunities for McDaniels on offense. This season, Towns is back on the floor and taking 15.5 shots per game. That means there are fewer shots for role players like McDaniels, who is averaging 10.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and shooting 50 percent from the field and 35.5 percent on 3s. He missed eight games in November and early December with an ankle injury and has been looking to find his spot in the pecking order for much of the season.

But he is still impacting winning. McDaniels entered the Nets game on Saturday with some interesting splits. In the 15 losses in which he has played, McDaniels averaged 9.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and had shooting splits of 43/30/67. In the 31 wins, he is averaging 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and posting splits of 54/38.5/90.

“We know what he does defensively, but his offense that he can bring for us really balances our unit,” Mike Conley said. “It’s much needed. Guys tend not to think of him as an offensive player, but he really does have all of that in his game with his 3s and getting into the paint to make plays.”

If the Timberwolves (40-17) can use the final 25 games of the season to get McDaniels comfortable offensively, it could play huge dividends in the playoffs. He is still a terrific defensive player. Just ask Nets leader Mikal Bridges, who was hounded by McDaniels into 7-for-21 shooting, including 1 for 11 from 3.

The next step for him in his development is finding a way to avoid lulls like we saw against Milwaukee and in the first three quarters of the game on Saturday against Brooklyn, when he had one point, one shot, one rebound and three turnovers. Coupled with Edwards going 6 for 17 through three and off shooting nights from Reid (2 for 9) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (0 for 6), and the Wolves were having a hard time putting a away a Nets team that lost its previous two games by 78 points. They hit 40 percent of their shots and McDaniels had just one shot, one rebound and zero assists in 22 minutes when the fourth opened. The Wolves led, 70-66.

With the offense floundering, McDaniels knocked down two 3s and also caught a pass in the corner, pump faked and drove to the paint, where he slipped a nifty pass to Towns, who was fouled.

“We needed it,” Finch said. “He’s got to wake up, snap out of, he’s been in a little funk. Hopefully he can carry this into the next game.”

His night ended with two exclamation points. First, a little shovel pass to Edwards for a big dunk that essentially iced the game in the final minute.

ADD IT TO THE HIGHLIGHT REEL pic.twitter.com/HIieSN8gG5

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 25, 2024

Then he came to Conley’s aid when Nets guard, and Wolves agitator, Dennis Schroder took exception to a late-in-the-shot-clock 3 from Conley in the closing 25 seconds. Schroder checked Conley after he let it fly and then got right in his face. McDaniels immediately stepped in and pushed Schroder away from Conley.

“I just told him he’s my road dog now,” Conley said. “He’s the first one to come to my defense. I got his back from here on out.”

McDaniels just grinned.

“Other teams be mad, I guess,” McDaniels shrugged. “Whatever happened, happened. I was just protecting Mike. It was unnecessary but I have to have my teammate’s back.”

Finch said last season McDaniels would give them a great game once out of every three games. This season, he believes it’s closer to twice of every three. He has been everything they could ask for on defense, taking on the toughest assignment almost every night. As the Wolves try to chase down the No. 1 seed in the West, Finch is challenging McDaniels to raise his level of intensity and force his way into the offense.

Finch wants McDaniels to get out in transition for more easy buckets. Finch also wants him to be much more active on the offensive glass, using his long wing span to create second chances for himself or his teammates.

“It’s been preached to him time and again,” Finch said. “You’ve got to find other ways.”

The last thing McDaniels wants to do is force it. He knows he’s not the first option on offense. But he is their best off-ball cutter, a skill that can help breathe movement into things when the offense bogs down.

“As long as we win, I don’t care how good or bad I play,” McDaniels said.

The Timberwolves do. They know how essential McDaniels is to their stated goal of making a deep playoff run. They know they are a different team when he’s involved on offense, just like he was in the fourth quarter against Brooklyn.

“We got a lot of people who can really put the ball in the basket,” Towns said. “When Jaden’s doing that, it also gives him a lot of confidence defensively as well.”

 (Photo: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)