Dallas Basketball

'We Have to Find Minutes for Him': Jason Kidd Vows More Playing Time for Jaden Hardy

With the lack of ballhandling depth on the Mavericks' roster, it's looking like it's time for Jaden Hardy to get a fair shot -- and Jason Kidd agrees.

Michael Mulford

The Dallas Mavericks have an handful of issues that have hindered their start to the season, but one of the main culprits is the lack of ballhandling aside from Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie. 

The Facundo Campazzo experiment came and went, as the Mavs now begin their Kemba Walker revamp project in hopes to get something out of the often-injured veteran guard.

But, why not look internally at rookie guard Jaden Hardy?

MFFL's are subject to the Mavericks making it tough for non-lottery picks to crack the rotation for consistent minutes -- we’ll call it Rick Carlisle PTSD -- but that era should be over with coach Jason Kidd at the helm. 

"You have to be in a position to, even if you do lose the game, to give him minutes," Kidd said ahead of Monday’s game. "Because it's a balancing act here of now and also for the future."

"I use Josh as an example, and nothing against Rick (Carlisle) or Josh, but you want him (Hardy) to have minutes in his rookie year. Josh didn't have that many minutes his rookie year so you don't want to always be behind and so, we have to find minutes for him and we will."

Well, in Monday's 130-111 victory over the Suns, Hardy played in only the last two minutes of the game — garbage time, so to speak — but scored 10 points in those two minutes. Every time Hardy scored, the Dallas bench erupted with excitement for the rookie. His efficient buckets included a grown-man finish at the rim with contact for the and-one.

"He got to play there at the end and he played well. He played the right way," Kidd said. "Hopefully we can continue to put him in those situations that are positive."

Kidd said before the game that though Hardy “deserves the minutes,” it's tough because “we have a lot of players ahead of him.”

Well, that may not be true for much longer, coach Kidd.

All aboard the Hardy Party Bus.

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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