The Dallas Mavericks summer is mostly over, and with training camp now weeks away instead of months, there’s one final piece of roster business to attend to: completing the re-signing of guard Dante Exum.
While the return of Exum is good news for a Mavericks team that will need as many credible ball-handlers while Kyrie Irving is recovering from ACL surgery, it no doubt is a bit stinging that one of Prosper or Hardy will be gone to make room. Not stinging because the Mavericks need them, but stinging because they couldn’t turn into the players the Mavericks actually needed them to be. Prosper was a shrewd move, with the Mavericks acquiring the King’s late first round pick in the 2023 and then selecting Prosper, a rangey, potential 3-and-D defensive wing. Hardy was once thought of to be a top draft pick coming out of high school before a disastorious season with the G-League ignite tanked his draft stock so much that the Mavericks were able to select him with in the second round with the 37th pick back in the 2022 draft.
Burning a first rounder, no matter how late it is, two seasons in is disappointing, but Prosper never showed enough in his limited opportunities. It made sense in his rookie season, as the Mavericks made a Finals run, and time for developing rookies was hard to find (which makes Dereck Lively’s rookie season all the more impressive). Last season Prosper should have found opportunities to thrive with all the Mavericks injuries, but he still never consistently popped the way you’d like, especially since Prosper entered the draft after his junior year of college, presumably the trade-off of an older rookie is faster impact in the NBA, but it never happened. Injuries didn’t help Prosper as well, as he battled various ailments in his two years in Dallas. Prosper just never found a reliable way to contribute — his box scores were littered with meager stats, with little rebounds, steals, or blocks to make up for his anemic shooting. It’s impossible for a 6’7 wing without a handle or consistent jumper to thrive in the NBA if they aren’t rebounding or making splash defensive plays.
Hardy is more of a “win some, lose some” lotto ticket. Second rounders should never carry any meaningful expectations and while Hardy flashed at times, his flaws were just too much to overcome. A brilliant scoring guard without much room to be an actual point guard, Hardy thrived when he was regulated to off-ball duties, playing off the Mavericks two stars (at the time) and canning spot up threes and attacking closeouts. Unfortunately with his size (6’3), it was hard to justify him for off-ball roles when the team needed size and defense on the perimeter. That said, Hardy had his moments, particularly a few scoring bursts in the 2024 NBA Finals. For Hardy to reach the next step he had to show he could be a lead guard and run offense, not just a microwave spot-up scorer off the bench. Unfortunately that never happened.
If the Mavericks can’t find a trade and are forced to waive, it’ll be fascinating to see which player they choose. Prosper feels like the odd man out considering the Mavericks roster is littered with forwards and bigs and Dallas needs as many able-bodied guards as possible, but we’ll see. Either way the Mavericks roster will look slightly different before we start our Labor Day holidays.