Mavs Coach Jason Kidd Must Find Consistent Minutes for Rookie Jaden Hardy
Though the Dallas Mavericks (24-21) fell to the Portland Trail Blazers (21-22) on Sunday night, there was a silver lining by the name of Jaden Hardy.
With the Mavs shorthanded — Luka Doncic and Tim Hardaway Jr., along with Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green, and Maxi Kleber were all out — Jason Kidd called upon Hardy to bring a scoring punch off the bench in the 140-123 loss.
Hardy played 26 minutes, finishing with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
"It felt good to be out there, help contribute to the team," Hardy said of Sunday's game. "Just bring energy and contribute in any way I could, whether that was scoring the ball, playmaking, or playing defense — getting back, having energy."
Kidd has been reluctant to give Hardy consistent minutes to this point, but the flashes shown by the rookie as of late has proven that he's worthy of more run.
"I thought he was really, really good tonight," Kidd said of Hardy on Sunday. "As we get healthy, we'll see how this affects his minutes, but he definitely needs minutes out there."
That's the big question right there: where do Hardy's minutes come from when the roster is fully healthy?
The first answer is the elimination of minutes from both Frank Ntilikina and McKinley Wright IV. You can't play two guards who don't consistently add any upside on the offensive end. Defense is great, but at the end of the day, the team that’s able to put the ball in the basket more wins.
Secondly, when Finney-Smith and Green are back in the lineup, give Hardy a portion of Reggie Bullock's and Tim Hardaway Jr.'s minutes … assuming both of those players are still on the roster past the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
Though Bullock has shot better from outside at 39.1 percent from 3-point range since December, Finney-Smith and Green have shown to be add more of versatility and more of a positive impact for Dallas. For Hardaway, while his microwave scoring has shown to be important, Hardy gives the Mavs a playmaking and ball-handling aspect that THJ can't.
For the Mavericks, Hardy provides them with a twitchy, quick guard that they don't have anywhere else on the roster. With more reps comes more comfortability and confidence, which going forward, Hardy will need a lot of to continue his ascension within Dallas' rotation with the postseason approaching.
"It just gives me a real chance, I feel like. Just to go out and be involved in the game when they put me in," Hardy said.
It’s time for Kidd to give the kid a chance.
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