Patience Key to Mavs Rookie Jaden Hardy's Progression

The Dallas Mavericks traded up in the draft to select Jaden Hardy in the second round, but he’s much more talented than where he was drafted at might suggest.

The Dallas Mavericks went into the 2022 NBA draft with no selections after they traded their 26th pick to the Houston Rockets for Christian Wood.

However, after watching the 19th-ranked prospect on their board slip into the late 30s, Dallas took a chance on former G League Ignite guard Jaden Hardy by trading away its 2024 and 2028 second-rounders to the Sacramento Kings. 

Hardy — who was the top-ranked guard in the 2021 recruiting class and the second-ranked overall — was a lottery projection, but after having a slow start to the G League season, his value fell. Experts projected the 6-5 guard to appear somewhere between "a late lottery to mid-first-round pick."

Many consider the acquisition a "steal" for the Mavs after his fiery performance in the NBA summer league. 

In his first game for the Mavs, the flashy guard dropped in 28 points and four rebounds. He would finish the summer averaging 15 points.  

With training camp less than a month away, can the rookie develop enough to carve out a spot in coach Jason Kidd’s rotation?

"The key for the Mavericks and Hardy is to let him grow naturally," said Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko. "Keep it simple. And if the work ethic remains, then he’ll blossom quicker than expected."

The biggest struggle for Hardy is his shooting, and Summer League wasn’t the first time he had issues in that department. For the G League Ignite last season, he averaged 21.2 points, but only shot 37.6 percent from the field. 

With an already crowded backcourt consisting of Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tim Hardaway and perhaps Tyler Dorsey now as well, Hardy will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to get real playing time. 

"The key for the Mavericks and Hardy is to let him grow naturally. Don’t force-feed things. Keep it simple," Sefko said. "He’s got lots of room for growth and part of that growth will be reining in his exuberance and harnessing all that God-given talent."

The team must be, "willing to roll with the ups and downs that come with being an NBA rookie at his age is part of the process." 

Hardy has all the intangibles to be a really good NBA player. If the Mavs are willing to wait on his shooting to develop, then losing Jalen Brunson might not seem like such a bad thing in a year or so.

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You can follow Lorenzo Almanza on Twitter at @LorenzoAlmanza2.

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