The Washington Wizards announced on Saturday that they signed Jalen McDaniels to a 10-day contract.
McDaniels is a forward who has spent this season with the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League affiliate. He’d had several stops around the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets (2019-23), Philadelphia 76ers (2023), and Toronto Raptors (2023-24).
McDaniels was a late second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft who earned a spot with the Hornets in his rookie season. He fell out of the NBA during this past offseason after being traded a couple of times and ultimately being waived. McDaniels signed with the Capital City Go-Go from there.
Now, the forward will get a chance to prove his staying power in the NBA on a 10-day contract. McDaniels has an impressive physical profile — 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot wingspan — that makes him a solid NBA defender. Defense is also genetic in the McDaniels family — his brother Jaden is one of the NBA’s premiere perimeter defenders.
Jaden McDaniels — importantly not the quarterback for the Washington Commanders — plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves and was selected 28th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Jaden has been a starter in Minnesota for most of his career, and he’s averaged double-digits in scoring in each of his last three seasons.
McDaniels was a crucial part of last season’s Timberwolves’ run to the Western Conference Finals, just the second season in NBA history that saw Minnesota win a playoff series.
Jaden was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team last season, and has been a down-ballot Defensive Player of the Year candidate for the past couple of seasons. Bill Simmons once described him as a cornerback on an NBA floor, which is an apt comparison for Jaden’s preventative style of defense.
Jalen is not quite the player his brother is, but there’s a reason he’s hung around the NBA for so long. Jalen is also a good defender — not quite an All-Defense candidate — but he has incredibly long limbs that he uses to impede progress at the perimeters.
Perhaps Jalen’s call-up is a flash in the pan and he stays in the G League going forward. But the Wizards are wise to use the remainder of a lost rebuilding season to take flyers on reclamation projects like Jalen McDaniels.
It’s likely the Wizards will try a similar tactic with other players, or they could bring over players from overseas at the end of the season like they did last season with Tristan Vukcevic.