Jaden Hardy

Hardy was very much on the NBA Draft radar after a stellar junior season at Coronado High School in Nevada (he moved there from Detroit just before attending), ...

That isn’t going to happen in the NBA (at least not anytime soon). However, if he can hone his shooting, cut down on the bad shots/forced passes, and deliver on the promise he displayed back in high school, then there’s a chance he could carve out a role as a sparkplug bench guard, who can shoot off the dribble or off screens, while adding in passable value as a secondary playmaking/passer. The talent is in there, I just hope the Mavericks have a plan for how to surface it. Not because I think Hardy isn’t talented, or doesn’t represent great value at pick 37, but because this is a player who probably will need time to develop, and doesn’t necessarily offer the kind of skillset that would give him a clear role on a team that just went to the Western Conference Finals. With the Ignite, he was one of the main ballhandlers, and did a lot of his work in isolation with the clock running down. Hardy is probably going to live and die by the jumpshot, and it will be incumbent upon him to work on his floater game, as well as just making better decisions with the basketball once in the paint. Defensively, Hardy is not a standout, and without elite athletic traits, he may be limited to checking fellow guards exclusively at the next level. For a 19-year-old, he has an impressive assortment of dribble moves, especially preferring the hang dribble or step back to set up his jumper. Most NBA talent evaluators do not believe those numbers represent his true talent level, which is why Hardy received a green room invite to the draft, after being mocked fairly consistently in the top 25.