New York Knicks Draft Profile: Washington forward Jaden McDaniels

Jaden McDaniels: Strengths

Athletic and versatile wings are the equivalent to cold drinks on a hot summer day, you have to have them. McDaniels is a fluid athlete who can cover ground by taking advantage of his length.

Additionally, he possesses the ability to quickly transition from his dribble into a pull-up jump shot with relative ease. Derek Murray of Babcock Hoops also credits McDaniels’ height and length as a primary reason for the successful launching of 127 three-point attempts, while only being blocked once. Furthermore, Murray highlights McDaniels’ handle and quick release as characteristics that led to elite shot creation, second, in his opinion, only to Georgia’s Anthony Edwards.

The pull-up jumper was a feature of McDaniels’ offensive game. The video below highlights some of the more crisp and clean pull-up J’s from his season, especially at the 45-second and 1:07 mark. It doesn’t take long to notice that these are NBA level shots. And while his shot mechanics don’t leave a lot of room for error, McDaniels makes most of these look easy.

The other side of the coin is that, while McDaniels was not shy in taking pull-up jumpers, he didn’t hit them with much efficiency. According to synergy, McDaniels ranked within the 54th percentile in off-the-dribble jumpers. But this is his strengths section right? Indeed a trip down McDaniels’ advance stats wasn’t all doom and gloom. Per synergy stats, McDaniels finished within with the 83rd percentile in catch and shoot attempts in the half-court.

Defensively, McDaniels averaged 1.4 blocks per game and totaled 43 blocks for the season. When compared with his draft class, at the small forward position, McDaniels totaled more blocks than Isaac Okoro, Aaron Nesmith, Saddiq Bey, and Robert Woodard. To take it a step further, McDaniels also rejected more shots than fellow athletic freaks Obi Toppin and Patrick Williams.