Dallas Mavs' Jaden Hardy Relishing Abu Dhabi Experience, Bringing 'Life & Energy' to Team

Although the Dallas Mavericks started off the preseason with a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, second-year guard Jaden Hardy showed out by scoring 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench while being a team-high plus-12.
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NBA preseason play didn't get off to the best of starts for the Dallas Mavericks, as they lost to the Minnesota Timberlines in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Despite a sluggish start, being down 37-19 at the end of the first quarter, the Mavs made a valiant effort at a second-half comeback before ultimately falling 111-99.

Luka Doncic led the way with 25 points, all of which came in the first half, but it was second-year guard Jaden Hardy who provided the spark that got Dallas back into the game. In 20 minutes off the bench, Hardy poured in 13 points, three assists and a steal while being a team-best plus-12 for the game.

“Once I got my name called, I just tried to create a spark, bring some life to the team, bring some energy and try to play my game,” Hardy said.

Dallas Mavericks second-year player Jaden Hardy changed his jersey from No. 3 to No. 1 this season.
Dallas Mavericks second-year player Jaden Hardy changed his jersey from No. 3 to No. 1 this season :: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Playing in Abu Dhabi, it's only the fourth time Hardy has ever been outside the U.S., but he's relishing the experience and looking forward to building on the promising rookie season he had last year when the Mavs return home.

“I feel like I had a good rookie season,” Hardy said. “At the end of the season, I started getting more minutes and showed what I could do.”

After leading the G League in scoring for the Texas Legends last season, Hardy finally graduated up to getting consistent playing time for the Mavs in the second half of the year. In 48 games played, Hardy averaged 8.8 points while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from deep. He had nine games where he scored at least 20 points, including a career-high 29 points in a road win over the Utah Jazz in February without Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving playing.

There are a lot of cooks in the Mavs' shooting-guard kitchen with Josh Green, Seth Curry, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Hardy all fighting for minutes. Given the flashes Hardy has shown, though, it would be wise for head coach Jason Kidd to find consistent minutes for the 21-year-old ... even if it means Dallas having to trade Hardaway.



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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.