Could Mavs’ Seth Curry Signing Lead to Tim Hardaway Jr. Trade?

With the Dallas Mavericks signing sharpshooter Seth Curry for his third stint in Big D, that could mean a Tim Hardaway Jr. trade is on the way.

It's been less than 24 hours since the opening of NBA free agency, and the Dallas Mavericks have been active from the jump.

After rumors of Kyrie Irving taking numerous meetings with other teams, he ended up re-signing with the Mavericks on a three-year, $126 million deal, which includes a player option for the third season.

Not long after Irving's confirmed return to Dallas, the Mavericks landed another sharpshooter, who happens to be a rather familiar face: Seth Curry.

First reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Mavericks agreed to a two-year deal with the free agent guard, marking it Curry's third stint in a Dallas uniform. 

The addition of Curry gives the Mavericks one of the best shooters in the entire league, who averaged 9.2 points per game last season with the Brooklyn Nets while shooting just under 41 percent from 3-point range.

In his second stint in Dallas in 2019-20, Curry averaged 12.4 points per game while shooting a career-high 45.2 percent from downtown during Luka Doncic's sophomore season. With the likes of Doncic and Irving, a former teammate of Curry's in Brooklyn and in college at Duke, and garnering the focus of the defense, Curry should be the beneficiary of an abundance of open looks from deep.

But looking at Dallas' roster following the acquisition of Curry, the backcourt is now a bit crowded, which could lead to a trade being necessary. Outside of Doncic and Irving, the Mavericks now have Curry alongside Jaden Hardy and Tim Hardaway Jr. coming off the bench. And for Hardaway Jr., who has been rumored to be a trade candidate all offseason, he just might have played his last game as a Maverick. 

For Hardaway Jr., the Mavericks have reportedly shopped him in a rumored deal with the Phoenix Suns in efforts to land center Deandre Ayton, yet the Suns were not willing to take back both newly acquired Richaun Holmes and JaVale McGee in the proposed trade. 

Near the trade deadline in February, the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly generated interest in Hardaway Jr., but with their recent re-signing of Caris LeVert and sign-and-trade for 3-and-D wing Max Strus, he may no longer be on their target list.

In four and a half seasons in Dallas, Hardaway Jr. has averaged 15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range in 29 minutes per game.

And though it was just announced that Hardaway Jr. changed his number to No. 10 for the upcoming season with Irving going back to No. 11, a trade may be more likely and beneficial to the Mavs than Jr. rocking the same digits his father did in Dallas.

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