Milwaukee Bucks NBA Draft Prospect Watch: Jaden McDaniels

HONOLULU, HI - DECEMBER 22: Jaden McDaniels #0 of the Washington Huskies looks to pass the ball as he makes up way up court during the second half of the game against the Ball State Cardinals at the Stan Sheriff Center on December 22, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI - DECEMBER 22: Jaden McDaniels #0 of the Washington Huskies looks to pass the ball as he makes up way up court during the second half of the game against the Ball State Cardinals at the Stan Sheriff Center on December 22, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
2 of 5
Jaden McDaniels, NBA Draft, Milwaukee Bucks
HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 23:  (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)

Strengths

It doesn’t take long to watch and look at McDaniels’ game to see what has attracted NBA teams for some time now.

At 6’9″ and armed with a near seven-foot wingspan, McDaniels’ various physical tools and athletic qualities were tantalizing enough to make him a lottery prospect in this class entering the year.

Along with that, McDaniels’ shooting potential, especially off the dribble, gives off the signal of a supersized shot creator that can attack any mismatch in the vein of a long, score-first forward like a Kevin Durant or Brandon Ingram. The perception of McDaniels’ shooting skills doesn’t meet that dream-level aspiration, but the Washington native’s ability to hit shots off the catch is key to his spacing of the floor.

Switching sides of the ball, McDaniels is a very promising defensive piece, again, in large part due to his quickness and long limbs. That has made him a functional free safety-like defender where McDaniels’ anticipation and reading of the game helped him accumulate 1.8 blocks and average a steal per 40 minutes in college.

With his ability to disrupt and protect the rim as a secondary rim protector, and his range shooting, McDaniels does have some interesting role playing potential at the next level.