The Dallas Mavericks have plenty of questions to sort out ahead of the trade deadline, especially at 12-22. While discussion over a potential Anthony Davis trade will dominate most fan gossip between now and the trade deadline, players on the fringes of Dallas' rotation, such as Jaden Hardy, have also been discussed amongst Mavericks fans as someone they want to see traded.
Being in the first year of a three-year $18 million contract, Hardy hasn't played himself into the deal he inked with Dallas ahead of the start of the 2024-25 season, as his efficiency as a driver and spot-up shooter hasn't increased much at all since his rookie season. The Mavericks elected to extend Hardy over Quentin Grimes last season, and this ended up coming to their detriment, with their main reason for trading Grimes being that they couldn't afford him.
With up-and-coming guards Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams not having security on Dallas' roster beyond this season, and both players being above Hardy in the rotation, most Mavericks fans want to see the organization move on from Hardy ahead of the February 5 trade deadline.
Mavericks fans want to see Hardy out of Dallas by the trade deadline
At 23 years old, Hardy still definitely has potential to blossom into a rotation-caliber player in the league, but he's getting to the point where he needs to carve out a role for himself. Hardy hasn't proven to have the ball-handling and playmaking chops to command an offense as the main point guard, even though that seemed like his most idealistic role coming into the league.
Hardy's been playing most of his minutes at shooting guard this season for Dallas, as that's where he's most effective given his ability to get it going from outside, but he's struggled as a one-on-one defender on wings and bigger guards at the other end of the court. Even with Dante Exum missing the entire season due to injury, Hardy has found himself on the fringes of Dallas' rotation once again, so it's hard to justify continuing this experiment based on the amount of money he's making.
There was a lot of hope for Hardy to blossom into a great young guard for the Mavericks when they drafted him back in 2022, but he simply hasn't shown the improvement necessary to be on this roster over someone like Williams or Nembhard, even if he hasn't been a total abomination and has still shown some flashes.
Given the lack of continuity on Dallas' roster, most of which can be attributed to Nico Harrison, fans may be surprised to hear Hardy is currently the second-longest tenured Maverick behind only Dwight Powell. However, the Mavericks can't play with their food when it comes to finding their starting point guard of the future to pair with Cooper Flagg, as Kyrie Irving is great, but will be on the outskirts of his career once Flagg starts to enter his prime.
If Hardy isn't the answer and his contract is preventing Dallas from signing potential solutions to this issue, such as Williams or Nembhard, then fans are making the correct request when it comes to wanting to see Hardy moved before the trade deadline.