NBA Player Props Today: Can Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels Shine on Opening Night?

NBA Player Props Today: Can Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels Shine on Opening Night?

The NBA is back tonight and I couldn't be more excited about it! We have a beautiful two-game slate to kick off the season and I am going to be targeting the late game where the Minnesota Timberwolves travel to LA to take on the Lakers. The two players that will be featured in the play are Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.

NBA Player Props - Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers

I love the spot for both of these players tonight against the Lakers. The Wolves made some big changes this offseason as they acquired Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo from the Knicks in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. I think both of these players could benefit as far as usage goes which is part of why I am targeting them in this play. I think this is a potential ladder spot for Edwards against a Lakers team that struggled to guard opposing guards last season. He likely draws the Austin Reaves matchup and also a little bit of Max Christie off the bench. I am expecting his usage to go up without KAT (even with Randle and DiVincenzo). Last season here were his splits with and without KAT:

• Averaging 25.4 Points with KAT with a 33.4% Usage Rate
• Averaging 27.5 Points without KAT with a 35.3% Usage Rate

He also has had 26, 25, 31, and 27 Points in his last four games against the Lakers all while shooting 29% from 3. Edwards claims to have worked on his catch-and-shoot 3s this off-season so I expect that to improve vs an already not-so-great perimeter defense in the Lakers.

Jaden McDaniels had an assist in 70% of games last season. In his last seven against the Lakers, he had assist totals of 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, and 2 assists. His assists numbers also go up without KAT:

• Averaged 2.2 Assists without KAT in 2022-2023
• Averaged 1.3 Assists with KAT in 2022-2023
• Averaged 1.6 Assists without KAT in 2023-2024
• Averaged 1.3 Assists with KAT in 2023-2024

His role in the new offense could also be a little different now. In the preseason he put up some solid assists numbers as he had in his last three preseason games:

• 2 Assists in 24 Minutes vs PHI
• 1 Assist in 18 Minutes vs NYK
• 5 Assists in 23 Minutes vs CHI

The Lakers are a great matchup for assists as they allowed the 5th most last season so I think we see Jaden continue his assists trend against the Lakers and the value is great!

NBA Player Prop Picks - Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers

• 0.25 units - (MIN) Anthony Edwards 30+ Points & Jaden McDaniels 1+ Assist (+305 @ DraftKings)
• 0.1 units - (MIN) Anthony Edwards 35+ Points & Jaden McDaniels 3+ Assists & Wolves alternate spread +10 (+5500 @ DraftKings) (using my No-Sweat Token)
• 0.1 units - (MIN) Jaden McDaniels 3+ Assists (+1000 @ DraftKings)