Dallas Basketball

Mavs Rookie Jaden Hardy Signs Shoe Deal with Nike

Jaden Hardy is likely the Dallas Mavericks’ most promising young prospect on the roster. He will join Luka Doncic under the Nike umbrella with a rookie shoe deal.

Dalton Trigg

In this story:

Jaden Hardy was the top guard prospect in the country coming out of his 2021 high school class. Instead of going the traditional route of playing college basketball before going to the NBA, Hardy opted to play in the G League for a year instead.

Due to his struggles with efficiency in the G League, Hardy’s draft stock fell, as the Dallas Mavericks, who already had him on their top-20 big board, were able to trade into the second round and draft him with the No. 37 pick.

Through Las Vegas Summer League play, training came and preseason, Hardy showed flashes of the potential that made him such an enticing prospect over the last few years, as well as some of the things that allowed him to fall.

When it comes to betting on Hardy’s future with the Mavs, you can count Nike in on being a believer, as the company has officially signed him and a handful of other high-profile rookies to shoe deals, according to ESPN’s Nick DePaula.

Hardy already has a handful of Nike connections with the Mavs, as GM Nico Harrison was the Vice President at the company before coming to Dallas, and Luka Doncic is now one of the most popular faces of Jordan Brand, which is under the Nike umbrella. Mavs legend and current Special Advisor Dirk Nowitzki has always been a Nike athlete as well.

Coach Jason Kidd recently said Hardy was on the outside looking in when it comes to his rotation, but that it didn’t mean he wouldn’t get to play at times this season. If Hardy is able to take advantage of his opportunities, he could end up contributing for Dallas sooner than expected … and that would make both the Mavs and Nike very happy.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Mavericks? Click Here.

Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Published
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.

Home/News