Raptors trade deadline targets: Jalen McDaniels strengths, weaknesses, contract & fit with Toronto

Scott Rafferty

Raptors trade deadline targets: Jalen McDaniels strengths, weaknesses, contract & fit with Toronto image

The Raptors have been linked to another player ahead of the trade deadline.

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Raptors are one of "several teams" closely monitoring Hornets forward Jalen McDaniels. Now in his fourth season in Charlotte, McDaniels is averaging career highs across the board of 10.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

With this season's trade deadline fast approaching, is McDaniels someone Toronto should pursue?

Let's take a closer look at the 25-year-old's strengths and weaknesses, as well as his contract situation.

MORE: Why Pistons' Bojan Bogdanovic is ideal trade target for Raptors

How good is Jalen McDaniels?

Strengths

Versatility is the name of the game for McDaniels.

McDaniels stands at 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan. He uses that size and length well to make plays defensively, posting averages of 0.5 blocks, 1.1 steals and 2.3 deflections in only 27.0 minutes per game, and he's proven to be pretty dang versatile.

McDaniels guards primarily small forwards, but he's spent a decent amount of time this season guarding power forwards, shooting guards and even some point guards. He moves his feet well on the perimeter and isn't exactly easy to shoot over.

“In high school, on the defensive end, I was able to guard little guards," McDaniels told Alex Kennedy of Basketball News. "In college, my coaches would have me guard the point guard, shooting guard [and so on]; I’d guard everybody. I feel like on the defensive end, that’s been in me for so long."

McDaniels has shown real signs of improvement on the other end of the court this season.

He's not shooting as well from the perimeter — 38.0 percent last season to 32.6 percent — but he's almost doubled the number of 3s he's taking on a nightly basis (3.6). He gets out in transition at a rate few can match, and he will bust out a move every once in a while that'll make you think there's still a good amount of untapped potential.

Weaknesses

The 3-point shooting is a real question mark. McDaniels has had two above-average seasons as a 3-point shooter for his position and two below-average, including this season. (Also, McDaniels played only 16 games in his rookie season, so take that with a grain of salt.)

Jalen McDaniels
(Cleaning The Glass)

McDaniels does most of his damage as a scorer on spot-ups and in transition. As much growth as he has shown this season, he's still not much of a creator. Two-thirds of his made baskets have been assisted and he's averaging only 2.0 assists per game.

Not that McDaniels can't throw a dime:

But he's still much more of a finisher and ball-mover than an initiator on offense.

How would Jalen McDaniels fit on the Raptors?

A 6-foot-9 forward who can defend multiple positions and wreak havoc in transition, McDaniels checks some important boxes for the Raptors. His limitations as a playmaker wouldn't be as big of a deal on a team that features Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes, but his shooting could be a problem seeing as the Raptors are already one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA.

Having turned 25 at the end of January, McDaniels fits Toronto's timeline.

What would it take for Raptors to get Jalen McDaniels?

It sounds like the Hornets really value McDaniels, but there's a risk that they lose him for nothing in the offseason when he's an unrestricted free agent.

"Teams with interest and cap space this offseason, such as the Jazz, Pacers and Spurs, may opt to wait until free agency to court McDaniels, who will be unrestricted, instead of trading an asset to acquire him now while having to compensate him in July," Charania writes.

The Raptors might have more motivation to make a move for him at the trade deadline because their cap space could be limited. To get a sense of what it would take to get him, a trade ESPN's front office insider Bobby Marks suggested was McDaniels to the Lakers for Wenyen Gabriel and three second-round picks.

Jalen McDaniels contract details

McDaniels signed a four-year, $6.1 million contract with the Hornets after the franchise selected him with the No. 52 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. While he's coming off of his rookie contract, he will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

Season 2022-23 2023-24
Jalen McDaniels $1,930,681 UFA

As ESPN's Bobby Marks detailed, the Hornets picked up McDaniels' team option for 2022-23 in the offseason. Had they declined the option, he would've been a restricted free agent, which would've given Charlotte the opportunity to match any offer sheet he signed.

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.