Mavs Coach Jason Kidd Must Find Consistent Minutes for Rookie Jaden Hardy

The need to find Jaden Hardy more minutes is becoming more and more evident as the rookie is fresh off a career-best night in Portland.

Though the Dallas Mavericks (24-21) fell to the Portland Trail Blazers (21-22) on Sunday night, there was a silver lining by the name of Jaden Hardy. 

With the Mavs shorthanded — Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr., along with Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green, and Maxi Kleber were all out — Jason Kidd called upon Hardy to bring a scoring punch off the bench in the 140-123 loss. 

Hardy played 26 minutes, finishing with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line.

"It felt good to be out there, help contribute to the team," Hardy said of Sunday's game. "Just bring energy and contribute in any way I could, whether that was scoring the ball, playmaking, or playing defense — getting back, having energy."

Kidd has been reluctant to give Hardy consistent minutes to this point, but the flashes shown by the rookie as of late has proven that he's worthy of more run.

"I thought he was really, really good tonight," Kidd said of Hardy on Sunday. "As we get healthy, we'll see how this affects his minutes, but he definitely needs minutes out there."

That's the big question right there: where do Hardy's minutes come from when the roster is fully healthy?

The first answer is the elimination of minutes from both Frank Ntilikina and McKinley Wright IV. You can't play two guards who don't consistently add any upside on the offensive end. Defense is great, but at the end of the day, the team that’s able to put the ball in the basket more wins.

Secondly, when Finney-Smith and Green are back in the lineup, give Hardy a portion of Reggie Bullock's and Tim Hardaway Jr.'s minutes … assuming both of those players are still on the roster past the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Though Bullock has shot better from outside at 39.1 percent from 3-point range since December, Finney-Smith and Green have shown to be add more of versatility and more of a positive impact for Dallas. For Hardaway, while his microwave scoring has shown to be important, Hardy gives the Mavs a playmaking and ball-handling aspect that THJ can't.

For the Mavericks, Hardy provides them with a twitchy, quick guard that they don't have anywhere else on the roster. With more reps comes more comfortability and confidence, which going forward, Hardy will need a lot of to continue his ascension within Dallas' rotation with the postseason approaching.

"It just gives me a real chance, I feel like. Just to go out and be involved in the game when they put me in," Hardy said. 

It’s time for Kidd to give the kid a chance.


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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.