Grading every Dallas Mavericks player ahead of 2024 NBA Playoffs

14. Jaden Hardy

Entering this season, Jaden Hardy is someone who was expected to have a big year with the Dallas Mavericks. He was coming off an effective rookie year, and his play during the NBA Summer League displayed the improvements he made over the summer.

All signs were pointing to Hardy being a key piece of the rotation this season, but inconsistent minutes plagued his season. Hardy averaged 7.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.3 steals per game while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from downtown.

Hardy's minutes per game even went down from last season, and although he had some great stretches and played well at times, it's not looking like he will be a key piece of the playoff rotation.

Hardy ended the season struggling, as he averaged 6.4 points per game in the month of April while shooting 29.4 percent from downtown. He did have a solid outing against the Detroit Pistons as he scored 25 points, but the rest of the month he failed to make much of an impact in the little playing time he did have.

During Hardy's excellent stretch earlier this season, he was playing much better in the flow of the offense, making great passes, and he showed some improvement on the defensive end but these improvements plateaued at the end of the year.

He seemed to be forcing shots much more often and didn't seem as comfortable with the ball in his hands as he was earlier in the season.

Hardy gets a C for this season due to his struggles at the end of the year and him falling out of Jason Kidd's rotation. He still has plenty of time to improve as this was only his second season, but this season didn't go according to plan when it comes to Hardy.