Tim Hardaway Jr.
Dallas Mavericks

Player Facts

Height: 6'5"
Weight: 205lbs.

Wingspan: 6'7"

Date of Birth: Mar. 16, 1992
College Experience: Michigan (3 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 7
Positional Wingspan: 6
Paint Scoring: 5
Midrange Scoring: 7
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 4
Perimeter Defense: 5
Interior Defense: 3
Rebounding: 3

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Supreme Spot-Ups

> Firing From the Handoff

> Scoring Inside the Arc

> Bailing You Out + Ball Control

> Defending a Couple Positions

> Feeble Inside Resistance

> Perimeter Defense Problems

> Low-Output Rebounding

> Ugly Shooting Percentages

> Uninspiring Playmaking

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Son of the 5-time NBA All-Star of the same name, Tim Hardaway Jr. broke into the NBA in 2013. He's a 6'5" scoring-minded shooting guard with an inclination towards the outside shot. THJ is best suited to be a shot-maker playing off of higher-level offensive creators.

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Supreme Spot-Ups

Playing next to Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson has unlocked Tim as a spot-up sniper. He gets great elevation on this jump shot for a nice and high release. Additionally, his energy transfer up through his body and ultimately to the ball is superb.

Catching-and-shooting is where Tim is at his best. He is an expert shooter off movement with his rapid release, with charging-out defenders not making much of a difference. He cans corner triples with the best of them, with only seven players making more in 2019-2020. He shot 45.7% on these.

His overall catch-and-shoot clip was 42.1% in 2019-2020 then 40.9% in 2020-2021. He dropped to 34.3% in what was a trying, injury-plagued 2021-2022. Hardaway Jr.'s exorbitant three-point volume must also be noted. He led the entire NBA with 395 spot-up points across 2019-2020.

Firing From the Handoff

Another way to get him going in the half-court is through dribble-handoffs. One of the most likely outcomes here is a quick rise and fire as soon as it touches his hands. His fast shot release really plays here. Tim will sprinkle in some takes to the hole, a strong driver once he has the angle to attack.

2019-2020 saw him accrue a 1.24 points per possession mark on handoffs. This earned him a spot in the 91st percentile. The Michigan product had more points on these sorts of plays than Kemba Walker, Devonte' Graham, and Lou Williams. With an even better 1.26 PPP, Tim repeated his 91st percentile spot once again in 2020-2021.

Scoring Inside the Arc

THJ displays some of that upper body muscle near the basket. He can hang and hit tough ones against taller paint protectors. Hardaway doesn't drive all that much, but he'll flash the odd high-degree-of-difficulty layup.

Tim's ready and willing to use the midrange. Off one of his many nightly curls and cuts, a quick one-dribble pull-up into the midrange will do against trailing defenders. He knocked down a very solid 46.3% from this zone in 2019-2020.

Tim can also arrive at the midrange via the pick-and-roll. Alternatively, he looks to isolate against slow-footed bigs whenever he's facing a switching scheme. On the whole, he was in the 79th percentile scoring as the initiator of these actions in 2019-2020.

Bailing You Out + Ball Control

He's still capable of manufacturing something at the end of the clock. His bountiful reps as a Knick carrying the offensive load have cultivated some lasting iso skills. More recently, these talents are seen when he finds himself holding the basketball with the clock dwindling.

THJ tends to be strong and decisive with the basketball. This allows for a low turnover rate. The turnovers are also kept to a minimum by not being a high-output assist guy, but there are usually other players to satisfy that role around him.

Defending a Couple Positions

His man defense is fine with that firm 6'5" build. He can guard 2s, and some 1s and 3s. A locked-in Tim shuffles his feet well and it is apparent that he's not an unintelligent defensive player.

That moderate switchability may be his best defensive selling point. Beyond just guarding multiple nominal positions, his physical profile allows for the defending of various player types.

For instance, the foot speed is there to stay with or recover against quick lead guards. At 6-foot-5, THJ can absorb hits from thicker wings.

WEAKNESSES

Feeble Inside Resistance

He is far from a defensive difference-maker on the inside. Slashers' interior shot percentages tend to climb with Tim as the lone man between them and the rim.

His positioning isn't all that bad, but he doesn't do much to actively hunt down blocks at 6'5" nor does he endure the below-the-rim contact necessary to draw many charges.

Perimeter Defense Problems

The general absence of defensive playmaking bleeds into his perimeter defense as well. He's not overly lively in passing lanes and Hardaway Jr.'s hands could be a lot more active at times.

The capability is there to be an average team defender and more importantly, one that does not get targeted possession after possession. Still, a steals per game mark of 0.8 or below from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021 is disappointing.

He could work harder to fight over screens. The main job of perimeter players on defense, cleaning up this area is in his and his team's best interest. Hardaway was in the 39th percentile defending pick-and-roll ball-handlers in 2019-2020.

Low-Output Rebounding

THJ is not the gritty perimeter player that will come in to crash the glass for your squad. His weak raw rebounding totals tell some of the story, but there is more to discover.

The 6'5" two-guard has never hit 1+ contested rebounds per night in any season. To compare, his 0.6 figure in 2019-2020 was bested by 6'1" guards Patrick Beverley, Eric Bledsoe, and Chris Paul.

Ugly Shooting Percentages

He's most accurately tabbed as a volume complementary shooter, overextended in a primary or secondary option role. His shooting splits reflect this as they suffer mightily off-the-dribble compared to off-the-catch. Zooming out, his overall percentages tend to be quite poor, dragged down by bad paint finishing.

Year after year, his shooting clips at the cup are not where they should be. In combining 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 he shot an even 57% right at the tin.

The athleticism and physical strength are in place for him to be better here, with the problem being a suboptimal inside shot selection (i.e. forcing up a shot against multiple taller defenders).

His floaters and runners are not uber-efficient either, hitting on just 37.6% of his non-charge circle paint shots in 2019-2020. Off-the-ball, he could cut more and with greater conviction when he does. Tim placed in only the 20th percentile scoring on cuts in 2019-2020.

Uninspiring Playmaking

Hardway Jr.'s playmaking leaves a lot to be desired. Even when he's served as the number one option in his career, he's fallen into his shoot-first tendencies.

Make no mistake, when he uses a ball screen he's laser-focused on letting it rip himself. The token score-first moniker suits him well. His feeble 5.2 assist points created per game in 2019-2020 was bested by big men LaMarcus Aldridge, Steven Adams, and P.J. Washington.

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Players Appearing in This Analysis – Check Out Their Profiles
bacon
Beacon Bacon

Tim dropped 36 in the 2014 Rising Stars game with future star teammates there such as Anthony Davis and Victor Oladipo