6 Dallas Mavericks who have failed to meet expectations this season

3. Tim Hardaway Jr.

Heading into the 2023-24 season, Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was coming off a fantastic year in which he shot 38.5 percent from downtown and started in 45 games. This was one of the best shooting seasons of his career, but he still ended up being on the trade market last summer.

Hardaway Jr.'s inconsistency, often tunnel vision, and lack of defense caused many fans to sour on him, but he started off this season with a bang. He had multiple 30-point games and one 40-point game, but he has been in a slump over the last couple of months. He was only playing 19.9 minutes per game in March, and although he has had some good games, he has been nowhere near as effective as he was during the first half of the season.

Hardaway Jr. was formerly in the thick of the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year race, but now he has been inconsistent in a much smaller role. Jason Kidd has stuck with Hardaway Jr., even through his struggles, and the Mavs need him to get hot before the playoffs to maximize the team's potential.

Hardaway Jr. didn't have super high expectations before the season, but no one expected him to go through the worst slump of his Mavericks career when they needed him most.