Tim Hardaway Jr. Injury Should Raise Mavs' NBA Trade Urgency
As if losing to the Golden State Warriors by nearly 40 points wasn't bad enough, the Dallas Mavericks lost sixth-man shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to injury on Tuesday night, as he suffered a fracture in his left foot that figures to keep him out for an extended period of time.
The Mavs have been in a handful of NBA trade rumors and reports over the last few weeks, and that should only pick up now that the team is in need of filling the 14 points-per-game void that Hardaway Jr.'s injury opens up. Dallas already needed more scoring help even before the injury with Jalen Brunson graduating to being a full-time starter, and now, one would have to think that urgency level has been raised even higher.
Just by surveying the NBA trade landscape, you can put together a sizable list of players who could potentially help the Mavs not only get by during this stretch where Hardaway Jr. misses time, but also going forward as well. Some more realistically attainable names like Houston Rockets' Eric Gordon, Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroder come to mind.
This one is not trade-related, but a player the Mavs should probably consider signing is Lance Stephenson. Dallas was connected to Stephenson in offseason rumors, as it was one of the teams in attendance at one of his workouts. Stephenson is averaging 9.5 points and 3.6 assists per game on 46.2 percent shooting from the field in 11 games for the Pacers this season.
Indiana has yet to lock in Stephenson for the rest of this season, as it has opted to instead sign him to his fourth-consecutive 10-day hardship contract for roster flexibility. Perhaps the Mavs can swoop in while being able to offer a bigger role on a better team.
Hardaway Jr. had been having a down year by his standards after signing his four-year, $72 million contract in the offseason, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from deep. By comparison, Hardaway Jr. shot 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range in the two seasons prior to this one.
If the Mavs had any thoughts of potentially trading Hardaway Jr. before the deadline, that seems to be off the table now... unless the Toronto Raptors would want to get something for Goran Dragic's expiring $19 million contract instead of just buying him out.
