Age

20

Height

6'4"

Weight

198

Workload

MIN%

68

USG%

30.5

TS%

52

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

18.2

REB

2.03

AST

3.29

STL

1.26

BLK

0.21

TOV

3.08

Efficiency

RIM FG%

49

MID FG%

34

3PT FG%

32

FT%

82

Jump to full report

Report by: David Sajdak

Jaden Hardy

Guard Dallas Mavericks

Volume scorer with a growing passing game

Age

20

Height

6'4"

Weight

198

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

18.2

REB

2.03

AST

3.29

STL

1.26

BLK

0.21

Positions Defended

Offensive Role

 

Defensive Role

   

Meet Jaden Hardy

With the 37th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected former 5-star recruit, Jaden Hardy, out of the G League Ignite. Standing at 6’4″, Hardy brings an intriguing skillset to a Mavericks team in desperate need of more ballhandlers. Hardy loves to get to his shot and he flashed advanced shot-making and self-creation throughout his time with Ignite, though not without room for improvement.

Shotmaking

While the flashes are nice, Hardy badly needs to improve his efficiency for him to have a positive impact on the offensive side of the floor. In 25 games for Ignite, Hardy rocked a 52% true shooting percentage and took far too many early clock and heavily contested jumpers for my liking.

Shot selection

Despite this, I remain confident he’ll improve his efficiency, as his free throw shooting (82%) and shot volume/diet are both great indicators of ++ touch while I trust an NBA coaching staff and a simplified role to clean up the shot selection a little bit. Where most of my concern lies with Hardy is his finishing at the rim. He shot a paltry 49% at the cup this past season and really struggled with size, length, and contact, pointing to functional strength and vertical pop deficiencies. Finishing against NBA bigs will likely compound this problem, and could seriously limit his upside as an on-ball creator if he doesn’t improve.

Finishing Struggles

Luckily for Hardy, he should thrive in a more off-ball role next to a creator like Luka as his off-ball movement and catch-and-shoot ability are both at a good level at this point in his career. He’s shown the ability to attack closeouts well, and while the rim finishing will continue to hurt him here, his passing game really grew as the G League season went on, suggesting an avenue to success in attacking and making reads against a tilted defense. Meanwhile, his off-the-dribble shotmaking could give the Mavs and Luka a release valve similar to the one Jalen Brunson provided to the team.

Attacking closeouts
Passing

Where Hardy has Improved Already

I’m going to quickly outline some areas that Hardy has already improved in to give us a good idea of his current development trajectory and where we can expect his improvements to come.

As I mentioned earlier, Hardy’s passing has improved a bit already, trading tougher shots that he was taking earlier in the season for smarter decisions. Overall, the game just slowed down for him as the season went on, showing some really nice instances of poise, control, and playing at his own pace in situations where he previously panicked or rushed to get to his shot. Continuing to improve in this area will really help his efficiency and even his finishing at the rim as he picks and chooses when to attack a little better.

Panicking, out of control early season

Defense

The defensive end of the floor is a bit less promising for Hardy. As a point-of-attack defender, he gave up blow-bys far too often, frequently getting beat as a result of a poor gamble, body orientation, or screen navigation. With lackluster strength and recovery skills, a Hardy blow-by almost always guaranteed a good shot opportunity for the opponent and is something to monitor as Jason Kidd attempts to get him acclimated to playing defense at the NBA level. There may be room for optimism as Hardy’s plus wingspan and active hands already bother opposing players at times. A lot of growth could come from simply getting more minutes and understanding as a part of an NBA defense.

Bad POA defense

As an off-ball defender, Hardy wasn’t great either, rotating and playing passing lanes well at times, but also missing tags or rotations here and there due to ball-watching or lapses in concentration. Again, a lot of this should in theory improve with time, but it is still important to note the level he’s at now.

Bad off-ball defense
Good off-ball defense

Conclusion

All in all, Jaden Hardy is a really fun prospect who, if he continues to make improvements to his game, could make a lot of teams regret letting him fall to the Mavericks. While he’s started the season out of the rotation, expect him to grow into a larger role for the Mavs as the season goes on.

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