'We Have to Find Minutes for Him': Jason Kidd Vows More Playing Time for Jaden Hardy
The Dallas Mavericks have an handful of issues that have hindered their start to the season, but one of the main culprits is the lack of ballhandling aside from Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Facundo Campazzo experiment came and went, as the Mavs now begin their Kemba Walker revamp project in hopes to get something out of the often-injured veteran guard.
But, why not look internally at rookie guard Jaden Hardy?
MFFL's are subject to the Mavericks making it tough for non-lottery picks to crack the rotation for consistent minutes -- we’ll call it Rick Carlisle PTSD -- but that era should be over with coach Jason Kidd at the helm.
"You have to be in a position to, even if you do lose the game, to give him minutes," Kidd said ahead of Monday’s game. "Because it's a balancing act here of now and also for the future."
"I use Josh as an example, and nothing against Rick (Carlisle) or Josh, but you want him (Hardy) to have minutes in his rookie year. Josh didn't have that many minutes his rookie year so you don't want to always be behind and so, we have to find minutes for him and we will."
Well, in Monday's 130-111 victory over the Suns, Hardy played in only the last two minutes of the game — garbage time, so to speak — but scored 10 points in those two minutes. Every time Hardy scored, the Dallas bench erupted with excitement for the rookie. His efficient buckets included a grown-man finish at the rim with contact for the and-one.
"He got to play there at the end and he played well. He played the right way," Kidd said. "Hopefully we can continue to put him in those situations that are positive."
Kidd said before the game that though Hardy “deserves the minutes,” it's tough because “we have a lot of players ahead of him.”
Well, that may not be true for much longer, coach Kidd.
All aboard the Hardy Party Bus.
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