IT'S HARDY TIME: Jaden Hardy looking like a decent prospect

[Jason Terry]

Dont know about his overall bball IQ...but Hardy has that modern offensive game.  This team needs that.

Seems like he can attack the basket and score at rim in traffic or after contact(even after mid air contact)and contort his body to get a shot off/lay up off.  I like that.  Its Ja Morant-ish.  Its modern and shows a strong FEEL for the game.  This team lacks players that have feel for the game.

I agree with the above comment that playing time should be number one for this kid.  Not some psychology experiment to make him earn it.  If this kid gets comfortable hitting 3's and scoring at the rim...we basically replaced Brunson.

I dont know about his defense at all.

Agree with all of this. Just give him playing time. No games. He’s already playing hard with energy. He even looked engaged defensively last night. If he keeps that up i see no downside to letting him loose. We need him to be brought up to speed right now. We had the luxury of slow development with Green but we need Hardy’s production immediately. He’s the future and the best chance to raise our perceived ceiling 

Brunson could do many things. But the only thing we truly miss is his ability to attack the rim at will. If Hardy can replace that at 1/20th of the price we will be fine 

Honestly the biggest issue i think we will have with Hardy is teams we deal with will demand he’s included in a deal for an all star

[Scott41theMavs]

The two things I note from this conversation: 1) I would say that the best measure of Hardy's IQ so far are his adjustments in-season, and the fact that he seems to have learned from *watching Luka.* 2) YES to the idea of his being able to replace Brunson. He should be more untouchable in trades than a future first, tbqh.

His learning curve on defense is likely to determine his playing time moving forward. There will be a lot of grousing at Kidd the rest of the year over that, but it's reasonable. The only issue is that if Kidd lets SD play with questionable defense, it's hard to justify sitting Hardy.

[dynamicalVoid]

I am sure there is an element of Luka wanting to win asap and an even stronger element of Mavs needing to put players around Luka asap before that next contract...

But Luka is young.  Why trade off Green and Hardy and Wood.  I think Wood will experience some major blow-back in the Playoffs...but I have super high hopes for him and think his touch around the rim is super hard to find plus he has a 3 shot.  I would not trade Wood unless its a sure fire All-Star coming back.  But yeah...Green, Hardy(if he continues to show promise) and Wood should be keepers unless its an All-Star not older than 28.

Anyway...with the attention Luka draws and shooters for spacing....Hardy should have some open lanes to waltz down.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...0695917568

I'll say this much, for as good as Hardy has played, I still get the sense that he's jittery out there.

Once he settles and gets the NBA iq he's going to be a good player.

[Dundalis]

I am sure there is an element of Luka wanting to win asap and an even stronger element of Mavs needing to put players around Luka asap before that next contract...

But Luka is young.  Why trade off Green and Hardy and Wood.  I think Wood will experience some major blow-back in the Playoffs...but I have super high hopes for him and think his touch around the rim is super hard to find plus he has a 3 shot.  I would not trade Wood unless its a sure fire All-Star coming back.  But yeah...Green, Hardy(if he continues to show promise) and Wood should be keepers unless its an All-Star not older than 28.

Anyway...with the attention Luka draws and shooters for spacing....Hardy should have some open lanes to waltz down.

I am nervous because I don't quite trust the MBT to make smart decisions. I think they could very well panic into getting fleeced for someone who isn't THE guy (Bogdanovic for example). Hopefully not, but I'm still unsure as I'm undecided on Nico, plus how much more influence Cuban now has vs Nellie. I'm just hoping Hardy gets enough opportunities between now and the point they decide to pull the trigger on any trade to raise his value in their eyes to the point where it's out of the question to put him an a deal for a player of that caliber. Green and Wood are different stories IMO. Green because I think the Mavs value him correctly, particularly because I think Kidd values defense, and Wood because they would probably have a good idea as to whether he has interest in staying in Dallas or not, and if they believe he's not, a trade is going to be better than him walking for nothing, even if the return is not quite what you would want. I just hope either they can swing a trade for an all star level player or he does have genuine interest in staying in Dallas.

I'll say this much, for as good as Hardy has played, I still get the sense that he's jittery out there.

Once he settles and gets the NBA iq he's going to be a good player.

He does, but people forget how pedestrian Brunson looked his rookie season. I thought he was absolutely JAG, he was undersized, bad on defense, and could not create his own shot at all, was night and day how timid he was compared to what he is now. Hardy already looks a lot better than rookie season Brunson IMO.

[ThisIStheYear]

Lol. Brunson was way better than Hardy his rookie season. He shot 47% and scored 9 a game on average.  I like Hardy, though he’s been terrible these last two games, and hope he can get to Brunson’s all star level, but he’s got some work to do, especially with his handles and shooting efficiency.

[Dundalis]

Lol. Brunson was way better than Hardy his rookie season. He shot 47% and scored 9 a game on average.  I like Hardy, though he’s been terrible these last two games, and hope he can get to Brunson’s all star level, but he’s got some work to do, especially with his handles and shooting efficiency.

Love how you ignore sample size. Brunson was trash at the very start his rookie season. Shot 33% FG and 27% 3PT in October having played the same number of total minutes as Hardy has played this season. He got a chance to play with increased minutes and slowly got better throughout the season. But he had no shot creation ability, and was basically playing within the offense. Hardy has way more polished shot creation ability, but he's still raw and does not have any kind of green light to try things and work out the kinks in the NBA, which pretty much every single rookie with his type of skillset requires to develop. And in terms of trajectory between the two, Brunson came in as polished as you can get as a 22 year old with three years of college under his belt and two NCAA championships. Hardy is a 20 year without close to the same experience level. I'd say his scope is much higher.

This was exactly the learning experience Hardy needs actually playing against one of the best defenses in the NBA.

[Chicagojk]

Hardy is not going to be productive at this stage when he is not making shots.  He has not made shots the past two games.   Personally, I would like to get him involved in those handoffs that we did with Jalen.   Just get him more touches.   Also, when Green comes back, they may be a good pairing.  For goodness sake, run more with the youngsters.   

He didn't box out a couple of times and that will get you benched pretty quick...although he was not the only one not boxing out.   He also allowed some drives to the basket.  But I thought his rotations on defense was active and he had some pretty solid defensive possessions.   So that are positives for a part of his game that needs work.   

All in all, minutes will be tight when everyone is healthy, but i think he deserves a least one run a game to see how he performs.  Great learning experience for him.   Really dislike the lineup with him, Din, Bullock, Bertans and McGee though.   We don't have much now, but that lineups sucks.

[MFFL]

All in all, minutes will be tight when everyone is healthy, but i think he deserves a least one run a game to see how he performs.  Great learning experience for him.   

I agree. 10 minutes in the second quarter EVERY game. And if Hardy is playing well, another 5-10 minutes in the 3rd.

The G-league is a waste of time for Hardy.

[cow]

Not to be captain obvious, but Brunson as a rookie had a ton more experience than Hardy.  Hardy has a ton more rough edges but the thing we like about Hardy is that he tends to learn from the walls he hits and then run through them in short order.

[ThisIStheYear]

Love how you ignore sample size. Brunson was trash at the very start his rookie season. Shot 33% FG and 27% 3PT in October having played the same number of total minutes as Hardy has played this season. He got a chance to play with increased minutes and slowly got better throughout the season. But he had no shot creation ability, and was basically playing within the offense. Hardy has way more polished shot creation ability, but he's still raw and does not have any kind of green light to try things and work out the kinks in the NBA, which pretty much every single rookie with his type of skillset requires to develop. And in terms of trajectory between the two, Brunson came in as polished as you can get as a 22 year old with three years of college under his belt and two NCAA championships. Hardy is a 20 year without close to the same experience level. I'd say his scope is much higher.

This was exactly the learning experience Hardy needs actually playing against one of the best defenses in the NBA.

I’m ignoring sample size and your talking about just October?  I’m on Hardy’s side here and think it was a good pick.  But he hasn’t shown it yet. He has a ways to go to get to JB’s all star level of play.

[sefant]

Hardy is not going to be productive at this stage when he is not making shots.

Obviously he has do produce on offense, because he is a kid learning how to play NBA defense. Defense is rough for the majority of young players, unless they are drafted as defensive studs.

It's almost more interesting to follow if he can make strides on defense. I am not worried about his offense. The key to be more productive is imo to get better on defense quickly. Especially on a team that is big time struggling on defense. The Mavs can't really afford less defense, unless Hardy is cutting into minutes of guys who are bad on defense.

Hardy looked better on D than some others guys during the Clippers game, not sure if thats a compliment or a diss


Luka + Hardy played 11 minutes with a 78.3 DefRtg.


I think that DefRtg was mainly tied to Frank, but that might be a small baby step 

[Dundalis]

I’m ignoring sample size and your talking about just October?  I’m on Hardy’s side here and think it was a good pick.  But he hasn’t shown it yet. He has a ways to go to get to JB’s all star level of play.

Hardy had played 141 minutes in the NBA when I made the post. Brunson played 139 minutes in the NBA to start the season in the month of October his rookie year. So yeah I'm talking about sample size, since comparing Hardy's 141 minutes of NBA game time to Brunson's whole rookie season isn't a good comparison.

Brunson not only had a long ways to go at that point, people thought he was a complete bust, albeit people didn't really care, because we had a future HOF generational talent also in his rookie year looking like a stud.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/MavsMuse/status/1614843424171085824

[BigDirk41]

I hope they consider giving Hardy a significant amount of minutes the rest of the season and let him grow. He has a lot of talent. It's possible he could be the future starting 2 guard beside Luka. We aren't winning a title this season so they should throw him in the fire and get some real experience. I've been happy with what he's shown so far. I really hope he can offset the Brunson loss because that turned out to be worse than I imagined. Brunson has really blossomed in NY.

[KillerLeft]

Hardy has something. It's so clear. From my seat it's basically only his situational decision making that needs development. Even when he's playing well it's like he only knows how to be the best player on the court, which obviously isn't going to fly for him at this level. 

Still, he's miles ahead of where Green was as a rookie and look how far he's come!

[ItsGoTime]

Hardy has something. It's so clear. From my seat it's basically only his situational decision making that needs development. Even when he's playing well it's like he only knows how to be the best player on the court, which obviously isn't going to fly for him at this level. 

Still, he's miles ahead of where Green was as a rookie and look how far he's come!

Fully in agreement. Been wanting to see if he was for real against real NBA talent. He showed that, but you’re right, the situational decision making and defense improving is his way up.

[Nowitzki Way]

It's possible he could be the future starting 2 guard beside Luka. 

i hope this is true, but i see him more of a super 6th man in the Lou Williams / Clarkson / THJ mold.  But from the 37th pick, i'll take that. We've needed a prospect like this for a long time. 

Him starting next to Luka in the future will depend on his defense and ball handling improving. I think the decision making will organically increase with experience and age.

[Chicagojk]

I may be too high on Hardy, but I just like all the signs I am seeing.   Minutes are going to be really tight when everyone comes back, but I hope they make a priority to give him minutes each game.   6 minutes in late first/early second and more if he produces in the second half.   Sure he will make mistakes, but you shouldn't lose a game giving him developmental minutes.   Probably by the time the playoffs come, he will hit the rookie wall and probably not be too much help in the playoffs.  But he will have a lot of developmental, real minutes by then.

[Nowitzki Way]

Minutes are going to be really tight when everyone comes back, but I hope they make a priority to give him minutes each game.   6 minutes in late first/early second and more if he produces in the second half.   Sure he will make mistakes, but you shouldn't lose a game giving him developmental minutes. 

Getting Hardy real minutes should be one of the priorities this season. We've seen enough in flashes, but lets continue seeing more of it. His future is definitely as a rotation player.

The product on the court will look a lot different in a month. Trade deadline will have passed and who knows what that will look like. But DFS and Green will be back and getting their minutes. What will it mean for Hardy?

I'm not good at the minutes break down like some of you guys on here. But I'd like to see him getting 12-15 min a game once the whole crew is back. Whether that be at the expense of Bullock or Frank or less for Dinwiddie and THJ.