5 Things Jason Kidd must fix in the Dallas Mavericks' rotation

1. Tim Hardaway Jr.'s minutes

After a start to the season that put him into Sixth Man of the Year contention as well as someone whom the Mavericks chose to keep beyond the trade deadline, Tim Hardaway Jr. is potentially having his worst shooting slump of his career during this recent stretch for the Dallas Mavericks. In his last ten games, Hardaway Jr. is averaging 9.7 points per game on 36.0/31.7/83.3 shooting splits.

Hardaway Jr. has always been a streaky player, but it seemed like this may have finally been the year where he was going to avoid a colossal shooting slump or major injury ahead of the playoffs for Dallas. While Hardaway Jr. was unable to avoid a major shooting slump, he’s at least available for the Mavericks ahead of the playoffs currently, a stark contrast to the 2022 Playoffs where Hardaway Jr. missed the playoffs entirely due to a toe fracture.

Hardaway Jr.’s minutes have trended down recently after his recent shooting woes, as he’s only played a combined 35 minutes in Dallas’ two most recent losses. His shooting struggles have still perpetuated despite the minutes reduction though, as Hardaway Jr. seems completely out of sorts offensively.

While the Mavericks stuck to a pretty tight rotation in their last two matchups, Kidd should consider giving some of Hardaway Jr.‘s minutes to one of Lawson or Hardy as we previously mentioned, especially when you consider that Hardaway Jr. has been a net negative on both sides of the ball throughout this recent stretch.

Hopefully, Hardaway Jr. can check back into his flow-state on offense and diversify his offensive attack beyond ill-advised three-pointers as Dallas approaches the playoffs, but Kidd has to figure out a way to get production in the minutes that Hardaway Jr. would normally be getting if Hardaway Jr. going to play less amidst his shooting slump.

For more on Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks, stay tuned as we will have you covered.