12-31-2022, 09:05 AM
Was catching up on some articles and noticed this from Hollinger a couple of weeks back. I didn't recall seeing it here:
Rookie of the Week: Jaden Hardy, SG, Dallas
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best rookie of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
Scouts this week will be evaluating the G League Ignite closely in addition to watching the 29 other teams at the showcase for NBA talent. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to check in on one of last year’s Ignite graduates, Jaden Hardy.
While he wasn’t the only one (New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels was the eighth pick in the draft), Hardy, to me, presents a more interesting case study, just based on two data points:
Watching him in the Mavs’ short-handed near-upset in Cleveland on Saturday, I was struck by the fact that he looked leaner, and that he’d possibly grown a bit as well. (Hardy has been variously listed at 6-3 and 6-4 over the past two seasons.)
Statistically, Hardy has made one notable jump, and it’s not where you’d think. He blocked only four shots in 814 minutes a year ago, but this season, he has blocked shots at five times that rate in 10 G League games.
It’s carried over to his rare NBA minutes (64 of them) as well. Here’s Hardy swatting a Cedi Osman drive after a solid closeout. This type of play just wasn’t on his tape reel a year ago:
The more interesting note is that the biggest part of Hardy’s statistical jump this season is just straight shot making. Yes, he’s drawing more fouls and has shifted from tough 2s to beyond the 3-point line, but the biggest difference by far is just the ball going into the basket. His shooting on 2PA-3PA-FTA has gone from 42.4-30.6-79.4 a year ago to a sizzling 62.4-48.9-84.6.
Hardy has a sweet, compact shooting form, and even last season it seemed hard to believe his percentages would remain so low for long. This type of jump on almost exactly the same shot proportions is pretty wild, though. Meanwhile, his rates of assists, turnovers rebounds and steals are essentially unchanged.
What does it all mean? Well, we still don’t know. Hardy was the 37th pick and rarely plays for the Mavs. But it’s another data point indicating that the G League is harder than college basketball. Three recent prospects who were average G League players as 19-year-olds were taken in the lottery (Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Daniels), and I don’t think any of them have disappointed. And even Hardy, who got squashed in the G League last season, looks like he might make it.
It’s also a cautionary tale for those who might want to dismiss this year’s G League Ignite teens (Sidy Cissoko and Mojave King) after slow starts … and straight-up exciting for those projecting the NBA futures of current Ignite stars Leonard Miller or especially Scoot Henderson. We’re still learning what to make of G League production as it relates to draft prospects; Hardy’s development is an indicator that the process may not be so linear.
Rookie of the Week: Jaden Hardy, SG, Dallas
(Note: This section won’t necessarily profile the best rookie of the week. Just the one I’ve been watching.)
Scouts this week will be evaluating the G League Ignite closely in addition to watching the 29 other teams at the showcase for NBA talent. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to check in on one of last year’s Ignite graduates, Jaden Hardy.
While he wasn’t the only one (New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels was the eighth pick in the draft), Hardy, to me, presents a more interesting case study, just based on two data points:
- He was awful in the G League last year and was just as bad in summer league.
- He’s been awesome in the G League this year.
Watching him in the Mavs’ short-handed near-upset in Cleveland on Saturday, I was struck by the fact that he looked leaner, and that he’d possibly grown a bit as well. (Hardy has been variously listed at 6-3 and 6-4 over the past two seasons.)
Statistically, Hardy has made one notable jump, and it’s not where you’d think. He blocked only four shots in 814 minutes a year ago, but this season, he has blocked shots at five times that rate in 10 G League games.
It’s carried over to his rare NBA minutes (64 of them) as well. Here’s Hardy swatting a Cedi Osman drive after a solid closeout. This type of play just wasn’t on his tape reel a year ago:
The more interesting note is that the biggest part of Hardy’s statistical jump this season is just straight shot making. Yes, he’s drawing more fouls and has shifted from tough 2s to beyond the 3-point line, but the biggest difference by far is just the ball going into the basket. His shooting on 2PA-3PA-FTA has gone from 42.4-30.6-79.4 a year ago to a sizzling 62.4-48.9-84.6.
Hardy has a sweet, compact shooting form, and even last season it seemed hard to believe his percentages would remain so low for long. This type of jump on almost exactly the same shot proportions is pretty wild, though. Meanwhile, his rates of assists, turnovers rebounds and steals are essentially unchanged.
What does it all mean? Well, we still don’t know. Hardy was the 37th pick and rarely plays for the Mavs. But it’s another data point indicating that the G League is harder than college basketball. Three recent prospects who were average G League players as 19-year-olds were taken in the lottery (Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Daniels), and I don’t think any of them have disappointed. And even Hardy, who got squashed in the G League last season, looks like he might make it.
It’s also a cautionary tale for those who might want to dismiss this year’s G League Ignite teens (Sidy Cissoko and Mojave King) after slow starts … and straight-up exciting for those projecting the NBA futures of current Ignite stars Leonard Miller or especially Scoot Henderson. We’re still learning what to make of G League production as it relates to draft prospects; Hardy’s development is an indicator that the process may not be so linear.
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