Film Study: Mavs' Jaden Hardy Continues ‘Outburst’ Progression: 'He's Always Ready'

Dallas Mavericks rookie Jaden Hardy continues to show progression in his development with the latest being a strong showing against the Memphis Grizzlies.

DALLAS — After being selected in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, Jaden Hardy has taken advantage of the opportunities he's received while being in and out of coach Jason Kidd’s rotation during his rookie campaign.

"He’s always ready,” Mavs center Christian Wood said of Hardy. “If you ever really watch him play, he goes games without playing, and then he comes in and he just goes on a scoring outburst."

The latest promising display from Hardy was against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, as he put up 20 points in just 19 minutes of action. 

When Hardy has received consistent playing time, he's managed to put up a high volume of points. He's scored at least 20 points in the previous four games he's played at least 10 minutes in. 

“I think (the stat sheet) says he had 18 minutes. And 20 points is great, especially coming from a rookie," Wood said of Hardy. "Down the stretch we’re going to need him, just like we’re going to need everybody else to step up.”

Hardy continues to show a growing comfort with attacking out of various actions. Against the Grizzlies, he scored numerous times using handoffs with the Mavs' offense relying on him to create. A strong example of this occurred while Dillon Brooks was playing a physical brand of on-ball defense against Hardy, requiring him to play through contact before getting into a mid-range jumper.

When the Grizzlies opted to switch the handoff, Hardy took advantage of the defender not aggressively getting into the ball by getting into a shot creation sequence. When attacking left, Hardy got behind the 3-point line using a step-back. He used a right-to-left crossover after coming off the exchange going to his right. 

Hardy's ability to exploit switching has been something to monitor during his rookie campaign. With a stretch-five like Wood on the floor, Hardy utilized the gravity of his screener to get to the rim and drew a shooting foul on a finish attempt. Hardy's patience resulted in an open window as the big recovered, leaving Brooks in the rear-view with the need for a low-man rotation. 

Another possession that stood out from Hardy occurred without Brooks on the court. With a mismatch in David Roddy to begin the play and Luke Kennard guarding Davis Bertans, there was a real chance to exploit favorable personnel on the floor with two frontcourt shooting threats on the court as screeners when including Wood in the mix. 

Hardy initially utilized a screen to force Kennard to switch, then using a screen from Wood to force Kennard and Santi Aldama into the action out in space, setting up a chance to break down a slower defender not getting into the ball again, resulting in a step-back 3. 

In general, Hardy continues to show the willingness to turn down a less favorable initial opportunity to pull-up in favor of attacking for a better look. Aldama played closer to the level to get tighter into the ball after Hardy commanded the switch out of a handoff in the fourth quarter. The approach and the game situation matters a lot on this play. 

With it being a two-point game, Hardy was cognizant of it being an important possession. He got the ball back to reset his dribble with Aldama wanting to play the step-back after previously giving it up earlier in the game. Hardy then used it as an opportunity to attack open space downhill to get to the rim. 

In the fourth quarter, Hardy accounted for all three of the Mavs' made field goals, before going down with an injury. For a team that scored only 12 points in the final period after holding a 16-point lead, Hardy's absence was felt almost as strongly as his presence. 

"Hardy stepped on someone's foot when he was backtracking. I felt and the rest of the coaching staff, looked at going with some experience once we thought he was hurt," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Hardy not closing the game. 

"Looking at that group that finished, pretty much finished in L.A. [Los Angeles]. That group has been successful and had gotten great looks tonight. They just didn't go down for us, but Hardy was good to start that, that fourth — I think the only one who probably did score."

Kidd explained that as a coaching staff, the decision was partly made to not close with Hardy on the floor because they needed personnel that could make a defensive impact. Given that Hardy was hurt, it was unclear if he would be among the options to get it done.

 "When he was backtracking, he stepped on someone's ankle. So, not just to leave him on the offensive end, but he has to participate on the defensive end too. We felt we just needed someone who was healthy at that time."

With Kyrie Irving being sidelined and Tim Hardaway Jr. already being ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Golden State Warriors, Hardy will be needed to make an impact alongside Luka Doncic. 

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