When asked earlier this week what type of progress multi-talented Dallas Mavericks rookie guard Jaden Hardy made this
season, the eyes of general manager Nico Harrison lit up.
“Oh my goodness!,” Harrison said. “Amazing. Literally, month-to-month you saw the guy progress.
“At the beginning of the month he learned how to be a pro. The next month he was able to see passes that he didn’t see early on. The way he can score pretty much at all three levels, the way he just attacks, he’s a special kid.”
The Mavs believe Hardy is so special that they see his game escalating exponentially over the summer and beyond. At least, that’s the plan.
“We’ve talked about that all season — about the plan,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s executed the plan. He’s worked extremely hard.
“You can see he’s one that can get to the basket, he’s shot the three. So now it’s just a matter of getting minutes under his belt to be able to play both ends.”
In only 14.8 minutes per game this season, Hardy averaged 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He also shot 43.8 percent from the field, a healthy 40.4 percent from three-point range and a nifty 82.3 percent from the charity stripe.
Those are solid numbers for someone who – right out of high school – played last season for the G League Ignite before becoming the 37th overall pick of last summer’s NBA Draft. Meanwhile, Harrison’s enthusiasm about Hardy and his upside is the same as Mavs governor Mark Cuban.
“Jaden said he was going to be the steal of the draft, and he may have been right,” Cuban told Mavs.com. “For a rookie to shoot 40 percent from three on his volume is insane.”
For Cuban, what’s insane is thinking about Hardy’s upside and imagining what he’ll be able to accomplish down the road.
“He keeps on learning, he keeps on getting better, and he can get to the rim at will,” Cuban said. “He just has to get a little bit better finishing at the rim – he can go high off the backboard.
“But once he gets that in his bag and picks up some of the defensive end of it, he’s going to be really, really, really good.”
Hardy is comfortable with what he was able to achieve this season and added that he has many more tricks up his sleeve.
“I feel like the progress I have made is not really normal for just a normal rookie,” Hardy said. “I’m just being consistent with my 
work ethic, going to the gym, listening to the staff, being a sponge to the players and trying to develop my game starting in the G League.
“When I was down in the G League (I was) just getting the opportunity to work on my game and continue to grow as a player, mature on the court, and then once I got my opportunity up here, just trying to take advantage of it. So, I feel like, looking back at my rookie season, it’s been a good season.”
How good?
In the eight games Hardy played 25 or more minutes this season, he scored at least 22 points in seven of those games. He was affectionately known as a bucket-getter, because that’s what he often did.
Hardy played just 48 games this season, and he scored 20 or more points in nine of those games. That includes scoring a career-high 29 points in 26 minutes on Feb. 6 at Utah, and 27 points in 25 minutes against on March 22 against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Also, in Sunday’s regular-season finale against San Antonio, Hardy tallied 25 points in only 28 minutes. That included a sizzling 21 points in the second quarter.
That’s the most points scored in one quarter by any NBA rookie this season, and the most scored in one quarter by a Mavs’ rookie since Roddy Beaubois scored 21 points in 2010 against the Warriors.
Hardy said Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie were the teammates he leaned on the most this season before they were traded to the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 6 for Kyrie Irving. Now, Irving is the player Hardy leans on the most as he tries to navigate his way through the topsy-turvy world of the NBA.
“Kyrie is one of the guys I talk to the most,” Hardy said. “As far as when we’re in the gym, I’m just trying to watch what he does, his daily routine, how he takes care of his body. The things that Kyrie has helped me with since he’s been here is when he sees me out there, he tells me things, gives me tips, but just slowing down and seeing the game and understanding pace.
“I feel like I’ve got a bag of moves, so I feel like not really anybody can stay in front of me, and he tells me that all the time. So, I’ll just continue to go and take the tips from him and just continue to learn. I appreciate that from him, too. In the offseason, I’m going to get some work in with him.”
Hardy was projected to be a first-round draft pick last summer, but surprisingly dropped to the second round and was drafte
d by the Sacramento Kings with the 37th overall pick. Seeing Hardy in a free-fall, the Mavs pounced on him and acquired his draft rights from the Kings for a pair of second-round draft picks.
“That was all Nico and (Mavs assistant general manager Michael) Finley and our scouts,” Cuban said. “They just thought it was just weird circumstances in the G League where he really didn’t show who he really was.
“During Covid he didn’t really get a chance to play five-on-five. He got better as the season went on and we just thought that his improvement curve would continue.”
Asked if he was surprised by Hardy’s improvement this season, Kidd said: “I don’t know if he surprised us. I think the expectation was he was a lottery pick and he fell to the second round. So, for us to be able to get him in the second round, we were fortunate.
“He does have a skill set. We’ve seen that this season. So now it’s just a matter of getting him more minutes on the floor with some of those guys like Kai and Luka (Doncic).”
Hardy was just 19 years old when the Mavs acquired him from the Kings. So, Doncic knows he has a chance to be his teammate for a long, long time.
“He’s been unbelievable this year for a rookie,” Doncic said. “He didn’t play that much in the beginning, but he was working, so he improved a lot.”
Harrison said Hardy will play on the Mavs’ summer league team in July in Las Vegas, where they hope he’ll showcase even more of his skills.
“He’s an amazing talent,” center Maxi Kleber said. “He’s shown it from the first day, in my opinion, that he has those sparks.
“Just the consistencies in which he can attack the paint and find a way to finish will help a lot. He’s going to have a great summer and come back even stronger next year.”
While Harrison is hopeful of Hardy cracking the Mavs’ rotation next season, the 6-3, 198-pounder has laid out his own plans for individual success.
“Going into the offseason, things I’m going to look to work on is for sure is to get stronger and faster,” Hardy said. “I want to be quicker and be able to get off the ground quicker.
“Those are two areas that I’m for sure going to work on. And continue to develop my decision-making.”
Kleber agreed, saying: “I think the biggest part will be decision-making, because he has all the skill sets on the offensive end. I think the most important things are (for Hardy) to find a balance between when to go for himself and when to find a teammate. He’s proven that at any time you can give him the ball and he will find a way to score for us.”
Being in attack mode and playing with a relentless sense of fearlessness has always been Hardy’s calling card. He explains that it developed “just from me playing against pros my whole life. I’ve always been on the court with them and just watching them.
“I’ve very confident in my abilities. So, I’m not going to be scared when I’m paired up against anybody.”
Hardy’s first season in the NBA taught him a lot. He now knows about the business of the NBA, about the business of trying to get some meaningful playing time and about the business of dealing with tough losses.
Hardy said he leaned heavily on his teammates to handle all the ups and downs.
“They helped me with that – just seeing the bigger picture,” he said. “It’s a marathon, and as a man I feel like I continue to grow and continue to mature. I see things, I see how these guys handle their daily lives and how much work they put it, what time guys get to the facilities. I’m just trying to take from what they do and trying to add it to my routine.”
It’s a routine Harrison believes will turn Hardy into an impactful player for the Mavs next season.
“I think he’s going to continue to grow,” Harrison said. “He’s a gym rat. Literally, if you go month-to-month and watch his progression, you can almost see it’s like a bar graph.
“And I think he’ll continue that path, because he’s going to be in the gym. That’s just the type of kid he is.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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