Sixers’ Jalen McDaniels soaking in first playoff run — and auditioning for new deal

Jalen McDaniels said he never gets nervous before games. But when the 76ers’ reserve forward checked in during Game 1 of his team’s first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, he felt “little jitters.”

“If I mess up, everybody’s going to know,” McDaniels thought to himself. “Regular season, you can get away with a little stuff, but [not now]. Coach is on your ass. He’s going to know what you just did, and he’s going to tell you.”

Those nerves were understandable. Though this Sixers roster is primarily filled with veterans, that moment marked McDaniels’ postseason debut after he was acquired from the Charlotte Hornets at the trade deadline. And this playoff run represents an opportunity for McDaniels to prove to the Sixers — and to the NBA at large — that he can thrive on a team with championship aspirations before entering unrestricted free agency this summer.

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“That shows I can play at the highest level,” McDaniels told The Inquirer earlier this week, “that I can compete with the best guys. I can stop them. I can get to my spots [on offense and] make plays. … If you play the right way, which I feel I always do, you’re going to stand out in some type of way. Someone’s going to want you, just because you play the right way. Philly came and got me from Charlotte because they saw I was playing the right way and needed a little piece. …

“Now, I’m on a playoff team. Now I can showcase my game in front of everybody that’s watching. Now everybody can see what’s up.”

The 25-year-old McDaniels averaged 3.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and one assist in the four-game sweep against the Nets and flashed the defensive length and versatility that will be particularly needed if the Sixers face the Boston Celtics in the second round beginning Monday. Against Brooklyn, McDaniels sank an open three-pointer, elevated for a putback, and slashed to the rim to receive the ball for a dunk. He played the entire fourth quarter of Game 2, a rarity for a reserve, but didn’t notice because “I was just out there lost in the game.” And Sixers coach Doc Rivers said McDaniels got better as the series went along at recognizing how every detail is magnified during the playoffs.

“It’s definitely what I expected,” McDaniels said of the postseason experience so far. “Every possession matters, it feels like. ... Everyone’s just locked in. You just feel the energy on the court when you step in, like it’s all business. All serious.”

This has been an important career step for McDaniels, who spent the bulk of his first four NBA seasons with a Hornets team that toggled between rebuilding and challenging for a play-in spot. The Sixers were looking at the trade deadline for a wing who was more of a two-way threat in the postseason, after opposing defenses largely ignored Matisse Thybulle during last year’s playoffs. Thybulle was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the same deal that brought McDaniels to Philly.

McDaniels averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 24 regular-season games with the Sixers and shot 48.8% from the floor, including 40% from beyond the arc. He worked to establish trust with teammates by cutting and using his natural feel to find open space for shots or to make plays for others. Reserve forward Georges Niang has been impressed with how McDaniels has picked up on the Sixers’ “winning habits” in addition to his skill set on the court.

“He’s done just a great job of coming in and using his size and using his ability to defend and finish at the rim to really propel us over the top,” Niang said. “That was something that we had been missing — someone that can play on both ends of the floor — and he’s been spectacular.

“Credit to him, because I couldn’t imagine being a young kid traded, and then there’s real pressure in Philadelphia. The fans will let you hear about it, and the media will let you hear about it. So for him to come in and fit in with us I think speaks volumes to who he is and how focused he is on being a winner.”

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McDaniels said he still feels like “the new guy” during this whirlwind career and life transition that began less than three months ago. An indicator: His mother, Angela Jackson, typically would have helped him with his housing search and move to Philly. But her first visit didn’t come until less than two weeks ago, when she attended Game 2 of the Nets series, got a tour of the Sixers’ practice facility, and made breakfast from Jalen’s short-term rental.

Whenever the Sixers’ playoff run ends, an offseason of uncertainty and possibility awaits McDaniels. A 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds, he is the type of athletic 3-and-D complementary wing teams covet in free agency. McDaniels said he likes his fit with the Sixers, believing “I can grow into my game” in a winning environment. But he is also expected to have suitors on the open market willing to give him a notable raise.

“It just all depends on what [the Sixers] see from me,” McDaniels said, “and what I see for myself.”

Until then, McDaniels will continue to experience a line of playoff firsts. A string of games against the same opponent required him to study the go-to moves of the players he expected to guard even more diligently, he said, and to know when he is supposed to close out hard on shooters. He continues to absorb the emphasis placed on every possession, such as when Rivers stopped Wednesday’s practice multiple times because any flubbed play “can change the game for you.”

But those initial jitters are gone, McDaniels said. They dissipated in the opening minute of Game 1′s second quarter, when he splashed his first three-point attempt.

“It’s everything I’ve dreamed of,” McDaniels said of the playoffs. “I’ve just got to take advantage of this opportunity.”