Jaden Hardy Making Most of Recent Opportunity with Mavericks
Less than 18 months ago, Jaden Hardy was considered by many to be a top five talent in the 2022 NBA Draft class. Following an up-and-down season with the G League Ignite, he ended up falling down boards, but was selected No. 37 overall by the Dallas Mavericks.
Early in his rookie season, his minutes at the NBA level were sparse. Hardy spent most of his time in the G League, where he was the best scorer in the circuit, proving to be nearly unguardable some nights. There were certainly other parts of his game that needed improvement, but he looked every bit of an NBA talent.
Hardy just needed a chance.
Through the first few months of the NBA season, Hardy appeared in just 11 games with the Mavericks, averaging 3.7 points in just 7.0 minutes per game. This wasn’t enough time on the floor to get in rhythm, which led to a 34.1% mark from the floor and a 2-of-13 (13.3%) start to the season from deep.
With that in mind, Hardy has been given much more opportunity over the past week due to injuries to others on the Dallas roster. In his last three games, the rookie has produced 13.0 points per contest while shooting 56% from the floor and 50% (5-of-10) from beyond the arc.
In what was the best game of his young NBA career, Hardy was a legitimate contributor in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He produced 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, which came on the heels of another 15-point outing two nights before on 5-of-8 shooting in a loss to the Boston Celtics.
This efficiency is very promising, as this was one of the biggest concerns surrounding Hardy entering the league. Could he score without being a volume scorer? Producing 15 points in back-to-back games on fewer than ten shots is very impressive for the rookie.
In his most recent game, Hardy wasn’t nearly as efficient but was still able to score nine points on eight shots due to his ability to get to the free throw line six times. If he’s going to emerge as a lethal scorer at this level, generating free throws will be key.
While it’s unclear whether Hardy’s role will continue to be this large, the staff should now have more trust in giving him time on the court. Especially following the waiving of Kemba Walker, there should be minutes up for grabs even as the Mavs get more healthy across the board.
Over the past week, Hardy has proven he’s more than capable of contributing at this level.
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