Dallas Basketball

Mavs Trade for Kings’ 2nd-Round Pick, Draft Talented G League Guard

The Mavs traded back into the draft as expected.

Dalton Trigg

Heading into the NBA Draft, everyone knew the Dallas Mavericks’ major fireworks had likely already been set off when they agreed to trade for Houston Rockets big man Christian Wood.

However, Mavs GM Nico Harrison said his team would look at trading back into the draft if the right opportunity presented itself … and that opportunity materialized on Thursday night.

According to multiple reports, the Mavs are trading for the No. 37 pick from the Sacramento Kings and selecting G League Ignite guard Jaden Hardy.

In 13 games, Hardy averaged 21.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals. He was ESPN’s No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2021. 

Already with experience in the G League, Hardy could see himself spend some time next season with the Mavs minor league affiliate, the Texas Legends. 

Hardy is an exceptionally gifted offensive talent that has loads of potential as an elite NBA scorer. But with a draft age of 19, he's still a raw prospect that will need time to adjust.

Despite the impressive scoring output with Ignite last season, Hardy took an average of 19.4 shots per game to go along with 3.2 turnovers. He was the primary scoring option, so his turnover numbers as a result of high usage are understandable. A few years of development under a guard-focused coach like Jason Kidd, Hardy could see himself blossom into an elite secondary scorer alongside Luka Doncic as he continues to grow with a Western Conference contender.

With Jalen Brunson’s free agency still up in the air, Hardy might potentially be his replacement if negotiations go downhill.

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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.

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