Dwight Howard vs. Jaden McDaniels Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jaden McDaniels and Dwight Howard, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dwight Howard played 18 years in the NBA, 13 more than Jaden McDaniels, who played 5. Dwight Howard had the first of his seasons in 2004-05, while Jaden McDaniels had his rookie season in 2020-21. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Dwight Howard	Jaden McDaniels
Season	2004-05	2020-21
Team	Orlando Magic	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	82	32.6	12.0	3.5	6.5	10.0	0.9	0.9	1.7	2.0	2.8	4.3	8.3	.520	0.0	0.0	-	3.4	5.0	.671
difference:	+19	+8.6	+5.2	+2.7	+3.6	+6.3	+0.2	+0.3	+0.7	-1.3	-0.1	+1.7	+2.5	+.073	+1.1	+3.1		+3.0	+4.3	+.071
Jaden McDaniels	63	24.0	6.8	0.8	2.9	3.7	1.1	0.6	1.0	0.7	2.7	2.6	5.8	.447	1.1	3.1	.364	0.4	0.7	.600
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dwight Howard nor Jaden McDaniels played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 3
	Dwight Howard	Jaden McDaniels
Season	2006-07	2022-23
Team	Orlando Magic	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	82	36.9	17.6	3.5	8.8	12.3	1.9	0.9	1.9	3.9	3.0	6.4	10.6	.603	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	8.1	.586
difference:	+3	+6.3	+5.5	+2.3	+6.1	+8.4			+0.9	-2.5	-0.4	+1.7	+1.5	+.086	+1.4	+3.4		+3.5	+6.3	+.150
Jaden McDaniels	79	30.6	12.1	1.2	2.7	3.9	1.9	0.9	1.0	1.4	3.4	4.7	9.1	.517	1.4	3.4	.398	1.3	1.8	.736
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	4	41.8	15.3	4.0	10.8	14.8	1.8	0.5	1.0	4.3	3.3	5.8	10.5	.548	0.0	0.0	-	3.8	8.3	.455
Jaden McDaniels	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dwight Howard	Jaden McDaniels
Season	2007-08	2023-24
Team	Orlando Magic	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Semis	Timberwolves Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	82	37.7	20.7	3.4	10.8	14.2	1.3	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.3	7.1	11.9	.599	0.0	0.0	-	6.5	10.9	.590
difference:	+10	+8.5	+10.2	+2.6	+8.5	+11.1	+0.1		+1.5	-2.0	-0.3	+2.8	+3.2	+.110	+1.2	+3.5		+5.7	+9.8	+.132
Jaden McDaniels	72	29.2	10.5	0.8	2.3	3.1	1.4	0.9	0.6	1.2	3.0	4.3	8.7	.489	1.2	3.5	.337	0.8	1.1	.722
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	10	42.1	18.9	6.0	9.8	15.8	0.9	0.8	3.4	3.2	3.8	7.2	12.4	.581	0.0	0.0	-	4.5	8.3	.542
difference:	+6	+8.5	+6.7	+4.2	+7.7	+12.0	+0.2	+0.1	+2.3	-2.1	-0.4	+2.7	+3.6	+.067	+1.5	+3.5		+2.8	+6.1	+.229
Jaden McDaniels	16	33.6	12.2	1.8	2.1	3.8	1.1	0.9	1.1	1.1	3.4	4.5	8.8	.514	1.5	3.5	.429	1.7	2.2	.771

Season 5
	Dwight Howard	Jaden McDaniels
Season	2008-09	2024-25
Team	Orlando Magic	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	Blocks Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	79	35.7	20.6	4.3	9.6	13.8	1.4	1.0	2.9	3.0	3.4	7.1	12.4	.572	0.0	0.0	-	6.4	10.7	.594
difference:	+3	+3.8	+8.4	+2.7	+5.4	+8.1	+0.6	+0.3	+2.0	-1.8	-0.7	+2.2	+2.2	+.095	+1.2	+3.7		+5.1	+9.1	+.219
Jaden McDaniels	82	31.9	12.2	1.6	4.2	5.7	2.0	1.3	0.9	1.2	2.7	4.9	10.2	.477	1.2	3.7	.330	1.3	1.6	.813
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dwight Howard	23	39.3	20.3	4.3	11.0	15.3	1.9	0.9	2.6	2.9	4.4	7.0	11.7	.601	0.0	0.1	.000	6.3	9.9	.636
difference:	+8	+6.2	+5.6	+2.5	+7.2	+9.7	+0.4	+0.4	+1.7	-1.7	-1.1	+1.2	+0.4	+.086	+1.4	+3.6	+.382	+4.6	+8.0	+.257
Jaden McDaniels	15	33.1	14.7	1.8	3.8	5.6	1.5	1.3	0.9	1.2	3.3	5.8	11.3	.515	1.4	3.7	.382	1.7	1.9	.893

Additional Years
* Dwight Howard played 13 seasons more than Jaden McDaniels in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 6 to 18, from 2010 to 2022—Dwight Howard played in 9 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 13 extra years over Jaden McDaniels, Dwight Howard got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	3 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 2 Defensive Player of the Year 3 Rebounds Leader 1 Blocks Leader 5 All-Star Game