Before facing his younger brother Jaden in Minnesota on Tuesday, Philadelphia 76ers forward Jalen McDaniels was not feeling sentimental.
“I’m kind of over the brothers (storyline),” McDaniels said. “We’re cool, that’s my brother. But like, it’s just a game to me. We’re not like, ‘Oh, we got to play together tomorrow!’ We’re not like that, it’s just regular for us just to be honest.”
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The elder McDaniels did want to make a couple of things clear, though. First, he was excited to see his mother. And second, his teams are undefeated against Jaden’s in their NBA careers.
That trend continued as Jalen improved to 4-0 against Jaden. The Sixers dominated the Timberwolves 117-94 to go 4-1 on a difficult five-game, seven-day road trip. For Jalen individually, it wasn’t a breakout night: five points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. His most memorable play came on the wrong end of an Anthony Edwards poster dunk.
The Sixers’ road trip showcased both the highs and lows for McDaniels. But both his teammates and coaches seem encouraged by his play, which is important. After playing in relative anonymity, McDaniels has emerged as a key piece for the stretch run and into the playoffs.
“He’s just up for it, he really is. He’s a baller,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s just up for the challenge, enjoys it. You can see the pressure is nothing (for him).”
When the Sixers swapped Matisse Thybulle for McDaniels, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey made the rationale clear.
“Some of it was the challenges of what’s to come, which are the wars in the playoffs,” Morey said. “And we think Jalen will be someone who can be easier for Doc to keep on the floor at tough times in the playoffs.”
The Sixers are trying their best to win a title this season. With that in mind, they decided that McDaniels had a better chance of sticking in high-stress playoff games than Thybulle. The decision was largely a bet on skill set, although McDaniels was an intriguing piece for the playoffs.
McDaniels had played his entire career with Charlotte. In those seasons, the Hornets finished ninth, 10th and 10th in the Eastern Conference. Currently, the Hornets are 14th and major players in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. McDaniels hasn’t played in many high-stakes games at all.
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“We really think Jalen is sort of a hidden gem,” Morey said. “Sometimes when teams struggle that much, there are players in there that just need an opportunity to show what they can do on a better team.”
That made Saturday’s win in Milwaukee an intriguing stress test for McDaniels. The Sixers lost P.J. Tucker and Tobias Harris during the game, so McDaniels and Georges Niang played the entire fourth quarter.
Down the stretch, Milwaukee’s offensive strategy placed McDaniels on an island with some of the best five players in the world and multiple All-Stars. With the Bucks settling on a Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo two-man game, it was up to McDaniels and Joel Embiid to stop it. Sometimes, the duo didn’t hold up.
And sometimes, they did.
“I think he’s getting better every single day. I think he’s still learning, had a couple of breakdowns,” Embiid said. “But I think with time, he’ll be better. … I know he’s going to be a big piece for us for the rest of the year and the playoffs.”
McDaniels added: “I probably messed up a couple of times but that was really my first time being involved with him like that on defense, like being on a string.”
Even with the up-and-down results, McDaniels acquitted himself well in a high-level regular-season game. The Sixers got more stops than Milwaukee down the stretch, and McDaniels made two key offensive plays, a putback dunk and three free throws after Antetokounmpo fouled him on a 3-point attempt.
For McDaniels, even imperfect reps can be beneficial.
“It was just like a playoff atmosphere,” McDaniels said. “It’s something I always wanted to play in, a dream to play in. It’s coming soon. That was a little taste right there.”
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And on Monday night in Indiana, there wasn’t a lot of defense being featured. The Sixers surrendered 143 points in regulation, yet they managed to win in overtime because their offense was overpowering. With McDaniels involved, the Sixers strung a couple of stops together at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
In the play below, McDaniels switches the ball screen with Paul Reed and forces the steal on the entry pass.
This level of activity, length and athleticism is important for this team. Harden and Tyrese Maxey make up a small, defensively-challenged backcourt. The starting frontcourt of Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker and Embiid trends on the slower side. Those key cogs offer a ton of offensive skill, but it doesn’t hurt to surround them with length and athleticism.
“He’s been mad active,” Maxey said of McDaniels. “Like him and Paul Reed in there together sometimes, they cause so much havoc,” Maxey said. “The length and how hard they play, how they defensive rebound and get deflections. “
It should be noted that Thybulle brought those same qualities to the table. But he will return to Philly as a visiting player on Friday night because the Sixers didn’t trust his offense. They do trust McDaniels’ offense.
When McDaniels was acquired, Morey hinted that he believed McDaniels could thrive in a smaller, more specific role. After all, Embiid and Harden are on the Sixers. As Maxey put it, “He’s going into a role where it’s kind of conservative, so he doesn’t have to do too much.”
And there are times when Harden has found McDaniels for easy shots, whether it’s in transition or the half court.
“Even before the NBA, just having older guys and better guys on the team, I might not get the most opportunities to shoot. So, when they pass it to me, you better make it count, you better get assists or swing. You got to do something right.”
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McDaniels has better ball skills than Thybulle, which allows him to catch the ball in space and make plays. But there also are times when he can stray from the conservative role that Maxey described. There is a balance that needs to be struck.
McDaniels scored 20 points against Indiana, but the most important tests will come when playoff defenses sag off of him. In just 11 games with the Sixers, McDaniels is shooting 30 percent from beyond the arc on extremely low volume. Can he improve? And if not, are there ways for the Sixers to work around it?
There are challenges for integrating any rotation player at this stage of the season. This has been a time of transition for McDaniels off the court. After hearing his name in trade rumors for months and then getting moved, it’s not easy acclimating to a new place. McDaniels says he’s still in the process of shipping his car to Philadelphia.
On-court adjustments need to be made as well. The Sixers have McDaniels primarily playing on top of their 2-3 zone defense, but in Charlotte, he was deployed on the back line. There are new plays and calls to learn, which the Sixers’ army of player development coaches have been getting him up to speed on.
Perhaps McDaniels’ playoff destiny is to be used in some matchups, but not others. Whatever happens, his skill set and early flashes made him a person of interest for a team that is trying to contend for a title. For McDaniels, this is uncharted territory.
“It’s just me being versatile. It’s just me going out there just being who I am. There’s not really too much I got to do,” McDaniels said. “I don’t need the ball to score, to have a lot of touches. … I’ve been adjusting well, I’d say.”
(Photo of Jalen McDaniels: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
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