Tuesday, June 28, 2022, was all about meeting and greeting the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie draft class of 2022 at 10:00 am CT. But the message delivered today from Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was completely different altogether.
Finch made a direct statement about, and perhaps direct statement to, his young players Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Jaylen Nowell. And it’s difficult to confuse the message:
Chris Finch: “We can talk about this draft class, we can talk about free agency, but the one thing we know for sure is that the internal development of Ant and Jaden and Jaylen, those three guys in particular, will be the single biggest driver of how far we can go next year.”
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) June 28, 2022
Even on the day that the Minnesota Timberwolves organization set aside to welcome the draft class of 2022, head coach Chris Finch reset the expectations.
Jaylen Nowell
Jaylen Nowell is a 6-foot-4 201-pound combination guard who was added to the Minnesota Timberwolves roster with the 43rd pick of the 2019 NBA Draft out of Washington. While he has been improving, it’s clear from his name being mentioned by Coach Finch that the team is looking for huge strides from him this season.
Nowell is a rotational player for the Timberwolves who is primarily an off-ball guard so far. He is used lightly, but he has quietly developed a three-point shot that flirted with 40 percent accuracy in 2021. Despite a promising season, he wilted in the playoffs. Nowell should be able to average more than 10.0 points per game, 3.0 assists per game, and 3.5 rebounds per game. The Minnesota Timberwolves will need all of that, and perhaps more, to advance further in the NBA Playoffs this year.
Jaden McDaniels
It’s pretty clear that Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch sees a world of promise in Jaden McDaniels, and by his rhetoric is turning up the heat on the 6-foot-9 185-pound forward out of Washington. McDaniels enters his third NBA season but continues to be a bit of an enigma He has the height of a power forward, the lankiness of a small forward, and the floor movement of a shooting guard. He was drafted 28th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, and as such the Timberwolves are looking for big things from him.
He has a ton of promise both on the offensive and defensive half of the basketball court, but so far his potential has remained . . . potential. He is getting significant minutes, but he has yet to break the 10.0 points per game, 5.0…
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