Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Jalen McDaniels
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McDaniels spread his time across both the Hornets and the 76ers last season, ending as the 167th-ranked player in standard leagues. He averaged 9.4 points per game, adding 4.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 three-pointers. Unlike his brother, Jaden, he has been unable to carve out a consistent role up to this point in his career. He has proven himself to be a competent wing defender, enough to at least keep him relevant. After signing a two-year deal with the Raptors during the offseason, McDaniels is likely to land in a similar role to that which he has become accustomed. However, many of the players he will be competing with for minutes are on a downward trajectory. Chris Boucher, Otto Porter and Thaddeus Young are all significantly older than McDaniels, perhaps giving a leg up when it comes to opportunity. With that said, he is not worth drafting in standard formats but presents more like someone who should be monitored just in case things start to click.
McDaniels has established a consistent role in the Hornets' rotation over his first three campaigns. However, 2021-22 marked his fewest minutes per game (16.3) since he entered the league, dropping nearly three from the previous campaign (19.2). He's sat around the 300 mark in his three campaigns in per-game fantasy production, but he did produce slightly more efficiently last year, ranking 228th in per-36 fantasy output. The absence of Miles Bridges from the roster could position McDaniels for a slight bump in playing time, but he likely remains off the fantasy roster in most formats. Nevertheless, McDaniels could warrant some interest if injuries slot him into a more prominent role.
The 52nd overall pick in 2019, McDaniels found a stable role at the end of last season after Gordon Hayward went down with an injury. In McDaniels' final 24 appearances (17 starts), he averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals in 27.6 minutes. This season, he'll likely have fewer opportunities. The Hornets will begin the season healthy, and Kelly Oubre was added in the offseason. McDaniels isn't a guaranteed every-game player, so he probably shouldn't be drafted in the vast majority of fantasy leagues.