4 Dallas Mavericks players who barely survived the NBA trade deadline

1. Tim Hardaway Jr.

While Tim Hardaway Jr. may not be in the best position to win the NBA's Sixth-Man-of-the-Year Award given his recent shooting woes, the sharpshooter out of Michigan has had one of the more mighty turnarounds in terms of his perception in the Mavericks' front office as well as their fanbase.

Hardaway Jr. didn't even know if he was going to be on Dallas' roster ahead of training camp given the flurry of trade rumors he was mentioned in this offseason, yet Dallas has kept him through the start of the season as well as the trade deadline. Hardaway Jr. is currently 17.5 points and 3.6 rebounds on 41.4/36.4/87.7 shooting splits currently for the Mavericks, as he might be having his best season in Dallas thus far despite recent poor shooting performances.

The Mavericks don't have anyone with the willingness or ability to take contested 3-point shots outside of Hardaway Jr. besides Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, so the gravity that he commands alone from opposing defenses is a huge threat on the court when you consider that he is oftentimes playing alongside both Irving and Doncic.

Hardaway Jr. has played more stout defense than we've seen from him in years past even if he's still not necessarily a plus defender, so it's great to see him completely bought in to the Mavericks' defense given how much of a sore spot it has been all season. Hardaway Jr. has been doing a much better job at using the in-between game as well as dribble-drives to the rim to set up his rhythm as a shooter up until this recent February stretch, so hopefully Hardaway can revert back to the offensive portfolio that he carried throughout the first half of the season for Dallas.

Regardless of this recent stretch, Hardaway Jr. has had a great season for the Mavericks and has proved his place in the organization going forward if Dallas can maintain the level of defensive intensity that they've showed the last two games. The Mavericks need a microwave scorer to get things going offensively when things start to look dull, so Hardaway Jr. will certainly look to excel in that role after the All-Star break as Dallas prepares for the playoffs.

For more on Tim Hardaway Jr. and the Dallas Mavericks, stay tuned with us as we'll have you covered.