Category: News

Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. Over the past two weeks, we’ve been hit with a dense roster of kicks that would make even the wealthiest of sneakerheads wince. And if you were hoping this week would finally give your wallet a break, we’ve got bad news for you friend!

This week is once again stacked, putting to rest any early doubts we had about this year’s output. A new signature skate shoe from Vans, the latest Adidas from Kanye and Bad Bunny, the first VaporWaffle of the year, and dope ass Jordans? It’s going to be a sad week for sneakerheads trying to save money.

But who needs money anyway? Let’s dive into this week’s eight best sneaker drops.

New Balance 574 BEAMS Exclusive

Japanese retailer BEAMS has just dropped a new exclusive colorway of the New Balance 574 silhouette. Featuring a navy upper with gray and white accents, this 574 features a mesh and nubuck upper with suede paneling over an Encap midsole and a thick tread gum outsole.

It’s so simple we’re wondering why it needs to be an exclusive colorway and not something readily available on New Balance’s website, but hey, BEAMS is nothing if not a retailer with consistently exceptional taste.

The New Balance 574 is available now exclusively at BEAMS for a retail price of $112.

LeBron 19 Low Magic Fruity Pebbles

LeBron’s sneakers are polarizing. I’ve yet to meet a person, sneakerhead or otherwise, that has looked at a pair of LeBron’s sneakers and said something along the lines of “they’re alright.” It’s a love or hate thing, but once you start looking at LeBron’s sneakers as the yin to Jordan’s yang, you’ll gain a new appreciation for these weird and wacky silhouettes.

Jordan went for elevated elegance, had LeBron taken a similar route he would’ve always lived in Jordan’s shadow, but LeBron cut his own path. LeBron sneakers are weird, and in keeping with that, they’ve just dropped in a new collaboration with Fruity Pebbles. Yes, the cereal. Why? Because LeBron likes Fruity Pebbles. It’s really, shockingly, as simple as that.

This LeBron 19 features a white mesh upper with a translucent midsole that morphs from clear into Purple when exposed to light, no doubt inspired by the way Fruity Pebbles colors a bowl of cereal. Despite this corny mashup… this pair of sneakers is pretty dope and feels like something we’d truly never get out of Jordan Brand.

The LeBron 19 Low Magic Fruity Pebbles is out now for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or at aftermarket sites like.

Nike Women’s Air Jordan 6 Mint Foam

Come on, Nike, it’s early March, you can’t be dropping this kind of heat on us when it’s still winter! It’s pretty hard to see this women’s exclusive Mint Foam pair of Air Jordan 6s and not instantly want to cop. The Mint Foam features a snow white leather upper with mint green accents on the heel, tongue, and Jumpman logo over a cool blue icy outsole.

Rounding out the design are cut-window tongues and chrome-colored lace fasteners.

The Nike Women’s Air Jordan 6 Mint Foam is out now for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app, or your favorite aftermarket site.

Vans x Lizzie Armanto

This week marks the debut of pro skater Lizzie Armanto’s new signature sneaker with Vans. For this collaboration, Lizzie worked directly with Vans’ Innovation and Product Development team to craft a performance-based sneaker that was designed with EcoCush cushioning and a lean outsole for better board connection. It is Vans’ first signature skateboarding sneaker designed by a woman in 20 years.

The Lizzie features a canvas upper made from organic cotton with a natural rubber sole and suede accents in an off-white colorway. Rounding out the design is a signature tongue tag and Lizzie Armando branding on the heel via a flip tag.

The Lizzie is set to drop on March 10 for an unannounced price. Pick up a pair exclusively at Vans.

Sacai x Nike VaporWaffle Black and Gum/ White and Gum

The VaporWaffle is sort of becoming a modern Nike staple. The silhouette is the canvas by which some of Nike’s more out there collaborations live, and this week finally brings us our first Vaporwaffle of the year.

Made in collaboration with Chitose Abe’s Sacai, the VaporWaffle is a fusion of VaporFly and Pegasus silhouette details which are able to really shine with this set’s minimalist colorways. Dropping in both a simple White and Gum or Black and Gum colorway, the upper of each sneaker is composed of suede with leather overlays, contrasting tongues, and a monochromatic color scheme.

The Sacai x Nike VaporWaffle Black and Gum and White and Gum are set to drop on March 10th for a retail price of $180. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Bad Bunny x Adidas Response CL Bad Bunny Yellow/White

We’re big fans of Bad Bunny’s work so far with Adidas, and this week Benito is finally branching out from the Forum silhouette (his usual choice) with this new take on the Response CL. The silhouette dates back to the early 00s and features a mesh upper with leather overlays and adiPRENE cushioning.

For his take, Bad Bunny’s iteration features altered overlays that are made to look as if they’re melting, which is supposed to be a reflection of Benito’s wavy vocal flow. Wavy paneling aside, we really like that this collaboration looks like a unique design, rather than just relying on Bad Bunny’s famous name and logo to sell sneakers.

The Bad Bunny x Adidas Response CL Yellow and White are set to drop on March 10th for a retail price of $160. Pick up a pair via the Adidas Confirmed App.

Air Jordan 12 Playoffs

Fans of the 12 will be happy to know that a refresh of the coveted “Playoffs” colorway is set to drop this week. It’s the same colorway MJ rocked in ’97 when he made his winning shot in Game 1 and scored 39 points during Game 6, so both sneakerheads and Jordan fans will be frothing at the mouth when this black and white leather colorway drops.

The sneaker features a black and white leather upper with gold lace accents. It’s simple and elegant, not the flashiest Jordan but given its connection to MJ himself, expect this one to sell out immediately.

The Air Jordan 12 Playoffs are set to drop on March 11th for a retail price of $210. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.

Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Black/White

Yeezy spent much of 2021 changing up the brand’s aesthetic, it was exciting and infused some much-needed new ideas into Yeezy Brand. But Ye is taking a different approach to 2022 as the brand starts to play it safe. Shockingly, it’s still pretty damn exciting.

The 350 V2 is already a great silhouette, so who wouldn’t want it in this Oreo-esque Core Black, Core White, Core Black version of the sneaker? This is by all accounts a winner, and the brand didn’t even really need to try.

The Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Black/White is set to drop on March 12th for a retail price of $230. Pick up a pair via the Adidas Confirmed App, the Yeezy Supply webstore or aftermarket sites like Flight Club.

Syracuse started its run at the 2022 ACC Tournament with a 96-57 drubbing of Florida State. With the win, the team punched its ticket to the quarterfinals for a showdown with top-seeded Duke, but thanks to an incident that occurred in the first half of their win over the Seminoles, Syracuse will not have the services of their top scorer.

The ACC announced later on Wednesday night that it has decided to suspend Orange guard Buddy Boeheim one game for punching Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes.

Boeheim and Wilkes bumped into one another underneath the hoop after a made basket by the Orange. Boeheim responded by throwing a punch into Wilkes’ stomach, which led to the Florida State player going down in pain.

The officials did not appear to review the play, and Boeheim did not receive a foul of any sort for the incident. After the game, Jim Boeheim, Syracuse’s head coach and Buddy’s father, was quoted as saying, “The kid pushed him twice and (Buddy) swung around and hit him. I think it was inadvertent, but that’s OK. I just watched the play.” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton was asked about it after the game, and after praising Boeheim’s character, opted to “move on.”

Boeheim led the Orange with 19.3 points in 38.2 minutes per game this season. Syracuse’s game against Duke from Barclays Center will tip off at noon on Thursday afternoon and they’ll have to take on the ACC’s 1-seed without Boeheim. The Blue Devils won both games the two teams played this season.

Sometimes the best way to sell a game is to just show people the premise and let their imaginations run wild. Someone at Capcom understands this, because when the company announced its newest IP at March’s PlayStation State of Play, it didn’t give us too many details, all it did was show the premise: a world where portals drop dinosaurs into cities. These dinosaur invasions are announced via a weather forecast, and when they occur, it is up to a group of trained individuals to stop them. Supposedly there is a plot in this multiplayer-focused adventure, but do we really need to hear about it when a game already has our money within the first 30 seconds of being announced?

For those of us who do need a reason for our actions, the plot itself is simple enough to push us forward. It’s 2040 and the planet is in crisis. Dinosaurs are appearing from thin air and laying waste to cities across the globe. Threatened by the Earth’s original predators, the world turns to the Aibius Corporation and its revolutionary technology for help. The company’s next-generation AI, Leviathan, can forecast where dinosaur outbreaks will occur and deploy Exofighters to the area. Armed with state-of-the-art mechanized combat armor known as Exosuits, these warriors represent humanity’s last hope.

The combat itself feels a lot like what most of us wanted Anthem to be. If we’re going to play a multiplayer cooperative shooter, then let the plot exist but give fans a fun reason to go out there and blast through waves of enemies. While it’s obviously still early, it’s really hard to go against a premise that sounds like someone made a Sharknado video game. Everything about this sounds like it has just the right amount of self-awareness to be along with players for the ride, but also the correct amount of earnestness to not feel like it’s trying too hard.

We have no idea of Exoprimal is going to be good, but we already know we want to play it because sometimes you just want to play a game where dinosaurs rain from the sky.

If anyone is somehow already tired of all the video games out there, then they have no need to fret because Sony and PlayStation have a lot of games on the horizon. Wednesday, PlayStation hosted a State of Play about upcoming games and DLC for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. It wasn’t a long showcase, with it only lasting about 20 minutes, but it had plenty of games to show off. From action to beat’em ups to a tactics game, there was a lot to be excited about it. Here are a few highlights and what we learned from March’s State of Play event.

Square Enix

Anyone that is a fan of games from Square Enix has a lot to be excited about in the upcoming year. Four games were shown off during the State of Play event and it even capped off the presentation with a trailer for a new game called Valkyrie Elysium. The trailer featured a lot of the intense JRPG action combat that many have come to love from Square Enix, but that wasn’t the only kind of game that Square brought to the presentation. There were updates on known titles like Stranger Of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin and Forspoken, but we also got a look at a new tactics JRPG called The DioField Chronicle. Considering Square Enix just released the tactics game Triangle Strategy we might be seeing a revival to a genre that has been arguably underutilized for years.

Exoprimal

Okay so here is the sell on this game. Dinosaurs are dropped into a city via a portal and trained mercenaries in exoskeleton mech suits are tasked with destroying them. This premise is already ridiculous before the trailer makes it very clear that everyone is made aware of these dinosaur portals by a news broadcast that is announcing it the way your local news station says it’s going to rain today. Exoprimal looks ridiculous but in the best way. It has a campy movie feel to its presentation, but the gameplay looks like a fun take on the cooperative multiplayer genre. It also kind of looks like Anthem, which makes sense as the game is purely focused on multiplayer, but hopefully it’s more fun.

Trek to Yomi

Trek to Yomi is the latest from indie publisher Devolver Digital. The game looks extremely violent but has an appealing art style that is fitting of the samurai theme it’s going for. The game is described as the player taking the role of a young swordsman sworn to protect his town and the people he loves against all threats. Faced with tragedy and bound to duty, the lone samurai must voyage beyond life and death to confront himself and decide his path forward. This feels like an homage to old samurai movies, but unlike the gorgeous Ghost of Tsushima this one is going to be more focused on the old black and white flicks many grew up watching. We can’t wait to eventually get our hands on it and see how it plays.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

There was a point in video games where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being on the box meant a good game. At a minimum, it meant something enjoyable, but unfortunately, the turtles have fallen on hard times ever since the jump to 3D. There’s a new game on the horizon, but until then we have this awesome collection pack to look forward. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is a collection of old Turtles games like the NES game and Turtles in Time. These are classic beat’em ups and some of the best games from the pre-polygon era of gaming. Having a collection of all of them to enjoy at a moment’s notice is a win for all of us.

Of last year’s freshman class of Trumpist Republicans, Madison Cawthorn doesn’t get the same volume of press as a Marjorie Taylor Greene or a Lauren Boebert. But it’s not for lack of trying. He’s advocated for a bloody Second Civil War. He’s brought a loaded gun aboard a plane. He’s gotten divorced after a mere eight months after preaching traditional family values. These are all outside-the-box ways to get attention, and so is this: He got busted for driving with a revoked license — again.

As per The Asheville Citizen Times, the North Carolina representative was pulled over last week by highway patrol, who then deduced that he was driving without a proper license. He’d already had two pending citations for speeding, in both cases well above the speed limit, with two court dates set for April and early May. Now he has a third.

In North Carolina, a driver’s license can be revoked for many reasons, including speeding. Driving without a license is a Class 3 misdemeanor, carrying a 21-day jail sentence, though the punishment is usually simply a fine or probation.

It’s not the first time Cawthorn has been busted driving with a revoked license. He did the same thing back in 2017, long before he was elected to Congress.

When word broke that an elected official had repeatedly broke multiple laws, people couldn’t help but find it hypocritical.

Some settled for jokes.

Cawthorn was last in the news for “prowling” various Cracker Barrels and Waffle Houses looking for someone, anyone who supports him. Maybe one of them will be his chauffeur, perhaps after he’s out of the slammer.

(Via The Asheville Citizen Times)

Wednesday afternoon featured a Champions League round of 16 match for the ages. PSG beat Real Madrid in the first leg of their two-legged tie, 1-0, in Paris last month. But today, the two teams made their way to the Spanish capital with one eye on an appearance in the quarterfinals.

The Parisians got a huge boost when standout forward Kylian Mbappe was in the starting XI, and during the first half, the young Frenchman showed why he’s expected to take the mantle of the best player in the world sooner rather than later. Mbappe ran into an acre of space, got the ball onto his preferred right foot, and beat Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois at the near post. It gave PSG a 1-0 lead in the match and a 2-0 lead on aggregate.

Back in the U.S., Joel Embiid, arguably the NBA’s biggest Real Madrid supporter among players who never suited up for the club’s basketball team, took to Twitter to express his frustration before trying to put a silver lining on the cloud by addressing the rumors Mbappe is coming to Spain.

Embiid went on to say that he believes Mbappe will be the best player in the sport’s history.

And then, as they have done so many times, PSG collapsed in the Champions League. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema put on a masterclass in how to take over a game from that position, scoring three times in 17 minutes to put the team up on aggregate, 3-2.

Embiid’s tone, as you could guess, changed dramatically, with the Sixers center going right to a state of disbelief.

Real Madrid would go on to see out a win and earn a spot in the Champions League quarterfinals, and Embiid celebrated the win, in large part because he thought there was some UEFA silliness afoot.

He wasn’t the only player in awe — former Real Madrid players Luka Doncic and Willy Hernangomez both were over the moon, while Nicolas Batum praised Benzema’s effort.

Madrid will now sit back and wait to see who it’ll play in the quarterfinals. Embiid, meanwhile, will take some time to celebrate his team’s win before the Sixers play the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

The Indianapolis Colts decided the Carson Wentz era didn’t need to last longer than one year. After acquiring the well-traveled signal in a trade last offseason, Indianapolis decided to send him to the Washington Commanders on Wednesday with a collection of draft picks making their way back to the Colts.

While Wentz put up fine numbers in his one year with the team, Indianapolis only went 9-8 and did not make the playoffs, in large part because the team lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final week of the season. Now, in a new piece by Zak Keefer of The Athletic, details are coming out about the Wentz era, with the quarterback displaying “a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play.”

Perhaps the most damning indication is how Colts coach Frank Reich responded to his being on the team. Reich was Wentz’s offensive coordinator in Philadelphia and advocated for bringing him on board, but according to Keefer, Reich was willing to say to owner Jim Irsay that things did not work out like he thought.

Reich, who originally pushed for the trade to acquire Wentz last winter, apologized to Irsay after the season, according to a source. The coach believed he could resurrect Wentz’s stalled career and solve the Colts’ quarterback conundrum.

“I stuck my neck out for him last year,” Reich admitted earlier this month.

Now, Wentz will try to jumpstart his his career in the nation’s capital, while the Colts will hope their next big name quarterback acquisition can justify getting at least two years in town.

One of the most important music festivals in the country, Detroit’s Movement Festival is a reminder of the undying influence of dance music culture. Some form of Movement has taken place in Detroit’s Hart Plaza for over 20 years, and over 100 acts will perform over this Memorial Day Weekend from May 28th – 30th, 2022. 2 Chainz and Flying Lotus have been added to a headlining slate that already included Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, and Adam Beyer.

What Movement does best, is present a canvas of dance music mainstays from both electronic music’s beginnings and the contemporary artists that dominate the dance floor today. A Carl Craig B2B set with James Murphy illustrates this collision of the different ends of the spectrum the best and the thoroughly packed lineup builds from there.

Storied influential selectors are everywhere on this bill. From Detroit techno legends in Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson (performing under his E-Dancer moniker) to two of the greatest drum and bass producers of all time in LTJ Bukem and Goldie, who’ll be performing a B2B set for the first time ever. The slate of budding modern masters is deep, with Maya Jane Coles and Seth Troxler to Skrillex and Soulection founder Joe Kay.

It’s a loaded lineup for the return of this dynamic cultural function. peep the full lineup and get tickets are now on sale at www.movementfestival.com.

When we last heard from Sigrid, the blistering Norwegian pop singer was releasing a new version of her collaboration with Griff, “Head On Fire,” that featured both MØ and King Princess. Last week’s new version of that song was preceded by its debut in January when it was named BBC Radio One’s “Hottest Record In The World.” It seems that Sigrid has a knack for making hot records lately because today’s release of “It Gets Dark” was also tagged with the “Hottest Record” label and she’s fired up about it.

“I believe you need to feel the lows in life to feel the highs, and you have to know what sucks to then properly appreciate the good stuff,” Sigrid said in a statement. “It Gets Dark” is an ode to that. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a single release before.”

Chamber-like piano lays the groundwork for a pop drum beat and wild guitar brimming with joy and an outpouring of energy. “I’m moving at the speed of light, I have to go. But now I know, it gets dark so I can see the stars,” the “Strangers” star sings on the song, which is instantly anthemic.

Listen to “It Gets Dark” above.

Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Minnesota Timberwolves set individual and collective goals for themselves before the season began. One of those goals: Register more wins than last year before the All-Star Break.

Fewer than five weeks into 2021-22, they achieved that goal. By mid-February, they entered the season’s brief hiatus at 31-28. A year ago, they were 7-28 at the All-Star break. Weeks later, they’re 37-29 overall, good for seventh in the West, and 21-9 since Jan. 3. Their .561 win percentage is the franchise’s second-best mark since 2004-05, topped only by Jimmy Butler’s one-year cameo in 2017-18.

Proving integral to this 2022 turnaround is second-year forward Jaden McDaniels. Across those 30 games, the lanky, sprawling 6’9 wing is averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists on 58 percent true shooting (.477/.350/.775 split).

McDaniels is one of Minnesota’s five 22-and-under rotation players. Head coach Chris Finch is in his first full season as the lead man. Even Karl-Anthony Towns (26), D’Angelo Russell (25), and Malik Beasley (25) are just now on the cusp of their primes.

“Doing little summer camps and things like that with (Finch) there showed that our chemistry was right. As a coach, he’s a laidback coach — like, he doesn’t give us no restrictions or anything,” McDaniels says. “He lets us play freely. So, I feel like that’s why we all come together so well.”

A youthful, prosperous era of Timberwolves basketball that distinguishes itself from nearly two decades of misfortune and losing appears in its infancy. McDaniels will be pivotal to those efforts, and the flames of positive development have been stoked this year.

Dating back to his rookie season, McDaniels garnered minutes because of his defensive chops and etched offensive utility by shooting 36.4 percent beyond the arc. Yet he’s showcasing significant strides off the dribble and rediscovering the outside jumper that hibernated early on this year — he hit on 26.8 percent from deep prior to Jan. 3. After 54 percent of his shots were triples last season, that rate is down to 46.3 percent this season. He’s also buried 56.4 percent of his twos, a jump from 54.4 percent as a rookie, merging both volume and efficiency in his uptick.

Attacking off the catch, he leverages his length and dexterous handle to glide through creases in the defense. The Timberwolves are also occasionally tapping into him as a second-side ball-handler. Amid their 21-9 surge, they lead the NBA in offensive rating. McDaniels’ ability to exploit gaps as a supporting cast member and diversify his contributions beyond stationary shooting are important.

McDaniels tells Dime he’s learning to be more patient with his decisions and reading the defense before acting. Last offseason, he received his first crack at Summer League — due to COVID-19, 2020 Summer League was canceled — and was afforded in-game opportunities to experiment when the final score was trivial.

“I remember last year, I would kind of play all fast and just be like a one-, two-dribble guy. So, during the summer, that was my thing, just to be able to dribble in the paint and create for others,” McDaniels says. “I know last year, I wasn’t really confident in doing those things off the dribble. But I feel like I’m more confident now.”

Most 6’9 wings do not tout the deft ball-handling of McDaniels. Many of the downhill forays included above are punctuated by slithery crossovers and the capacity to navigate busy windows off the dribble. With his intersection of handling and size, covering ground from the perimeter to the interior isn’t the laborious task it may be for many forwards of similar stature.

To enable these sorts of sequences, he focuses on maintaining balance by keeping his back and chest perpendicular with the ground. The aim is to avoid hunching over the ball, which was previously a problem, he says. Now, every successful drive and dribble move bolster his self-belief.

Sometimes, he’ll watch film and notice opportunities in which he didn’t take advantage of extra stride or dribble available to him. Other times, the tape reveals situations where a dribble move worked, but he failed to recognize it in the moment, or reminds him of counters he hasn’t pulled out recently.

The confidence to attempt these audacious plays and deviate away from spot-up shooting stems from his coach and teammates’ unwavering belief in him.

“It helps as well, just knowing that (Finch) trusts you to be able to make those certain plays,” McDaniels says. “If you do make mistakes, he’s gonna be on you. But just knowing that he would like you to do the same thing again. D’Angelo is always telling me, like, ‘You’re not gonna know if you can do things unless you just go out there and try it.’ ”

Among those things is an early offense connection with Russell. Over the past few months, the two have made a habit of teaming up a few times each night to connect on lobs in the dawn of a possession.

Minnesota often initiates plays with a dribble handoff, so opponents will situate themselves between McDaniels and Russell to prepare for that action. In response, McDaniels beelines for the rim and his floor general feeds him.

“It’s not even a play call,” he says. “It’s just a little look he’ll give me and then, it’s time. That’s when I know when to go.”

“One game, I just back cut and he was, like, ‘Yeah, that’s gonna be there every game. You should at least get that once a game,’” McDaniels says. “Every game, I at least get it, get a layup or pass out to a three.”

Through three months, the Timberwolves fielded a top-10 defense. While they’ve slipped to 13th on the season, that’s still a marked improvement from their 28th-place finish a season ago and a component of why they’re within shouting distance of hosting a playoff series.

Finch’s decision to primarily trap ball-screens, which caters more to Towns’ strengths and the arrival of Patrick Beverley, have helped key this resurgence. Jarred Vanderbilt’s presence as a true Swiss Army Knife is crucial — he has a legit All-Defensive case.

At just 21, McDaniels looks like All-Defensive teams will be a recurring honor throughout his career. He guards a spectrum of ball-handlers. He’s exceptionally fluid as a lateral mover, navigates screens efficiently and anticipates driving angles to cut off attacks. His body control means he can absorb contact and stay tethered to assignments.

At the point of attack, his length and frame pose problems. He’s also adept at closeouts, which can be arduous to master, and quickly acknowledges it’s a skill he gleaned from Minnesota’s development staff.

“Last year, they taught me, just be the second jumper-type of thing. Go out and as you run to a closeout, look like you’re gonna leap,” he says. “But for me, being as tall and as long as my arms are, I feel like I don’t have to go as close either. So, I’m a good second jumper, I can still get a good contest on it.”

Perhaps intertwined to some magnitude with schematic shifts is an evolving defensive culture, he says. Players are willing to embrace defense and have bought into “trusting each other’s abilities.” Beverley, a three-time All-Defensive honoree, radiates a level of energy that ripples throughout the roster and harps on the details to maximize execution.

Meanwhile, Russell has embraced the role of defensive communicator to provide positive value in spite of physical limitations. His lack of lateral mobility, strength, and general quickness hinder him, but his feel is astute, so he outsources certain responsibilities.

“He’s like our quarterback. We always tell him, like, ‘Alright, you’re gonna be quarterbacking tonight,’ ” McDaniels says. “Like, he’s always talking, making sure we know where to go before things even happen.”

Hammering home the allure of McDaniels’ defensive toolkit is his off-ball prowess. Not only can he disrupt guys on the ball, he’ll comfortably translate his game to a starkly different role. He’s a highly impactful help-side rim protector, equipped with both a sprightly vertical and the awareness to deploy that gift against oncoming finishers.

On shots within six feet or closer of the hoop, opponents are shooting 11.5 percent worse than average when he’s the primary defender, per NBA.com. His timing and ground coverage are irritants, unavoidable pests that are circumvented at best and overwhelming at worst for offensive players.

He says chasing off-ball shooters around pindown and flare screens is an area of emphasis for improvement. Staying out of foul trouble (4.3 per 36 minutes for his career) is also atop the to-do list. A sheepish chuckle spills out when he mentions the latter, as if growth there is so apparent that his only intermediate solution is to laugh at its painstaking necessity.

Fortunately, his context before that solution arises is far from dire. McDaniels seems in line for his first experience of playoff basketball. Duels with star scorers will be on the itinerary. He’ll benefit from them. Maybe, a couple of foul-plagued games become teachable moments guiding the roadmap ahead.

Adjusting to playoff defenses and the way they guard him alongside such potent scorers and ball-handlers should also be informative. A learning curve is sure to confront him. How he scales that is relevant for himself and the Timberwolves, each of whom are enjoying the present and seem primed to build upon it into the future.