4 reasons why the Dallas Mavericks must trade Tim Hardaway Jr.

4. Tim Hardaway Jr.'s contract is too big

After two and a half seasons with the team, the Dallas Mavericks signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year, $75 million contract. This happened in the summer of 2021, and Hardaway Jr. was coming off a solid playoff stint in the season before.

Hardaway Jr.'s contract was a little high at the time, but now it's coming back to bite the Mavericks.

He is set to make over $34 million over the next two seasons, and the Mavericks are struggling to find a trade partner to take his contract. No one wants to take on a 31-year-old shooting guard who is making $17 million annually.

His skill set is too limited to be making that much money, and his contract has become a burden for this team.

If the Mavericks didn't have Hardaway Jr. under contract, they would have had much more flexibility in free agency this summer. They would have been able to offer Matisse Thybulle more (if they wanted to) and would have been able to build around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving more easily.

It was hard for Dallas to build around their superstars this summer because they have so much money tied up elsewhere. Hardaway Jr.'s contract is too much, and the Mavericks should trade him when given the chance.