Give Jaden Hardy credit. The kid isn’t afraid to aim high.
A day after he signed a new three-year contract with the Mavericks, the third-year guard said he has a new goal to go with the salary bump.
“Being in this position to get to my second contract, not a lot of players are able to do that,” Hardy said Wednesday after the Mavericks’ final workout before the season opens Thursday against San Antonio. “But I’m not going to let this contract define me. I’ll keep working and keep staying humble.
“This is where I want to be ultimately. But it is a business. This extension, now that I know I’m going to be here, my main focus is winning a championship this year. And my (individual) goal is to win sixth man. That’s my goal.”
Sixth man of the year is a lofty aspiration, for sure. Particularly since Hardy will start the season unsure of whether he’ll even be the first guy off the bench for the Mavericks. They have loads of depth, particularly at guard, where starters Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving are backed up by Hardy, Spencer Dinwiddie and Quentin Grimes.
Plus, Klay Thompson typically puts in a lot of time at guard, too.
“Everybody that comes off the bench is a sixth man,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ll see how that goes with the different combinations we’ll look at early on. He’ll have the opportunity to play with Kai and Luka. So we’ll see.”
No matter when or how much Hardy plays, Kidd was happy to see him get a new deal.
“Well deserved,” he said. “It shows another case of patience. Look at the work he’s put in and it’s well-deserved.”
Hardy, by the way, said he has a familiarity with at least one notable sixth man – Vinnie Johnson, the infamous “Microwave” who lit it up for the Detroit Pistons in the ‘80s, well before Hardy’s birth.
“I used to watch a lot of the Pistons, growing up in the Detroit area,” Hardy said. “Those teams had heart and grit. So I feel like that’s something for me (to do). I remember (Johnson). I’m very familiar with the history of their players.”
As for earning his way into a bigger piece of the playing-time pie, Hardy said he’s hoping the experience from last year’s playoffs, when he had a rotation role, and encouragement from Kidd will help him along.
And the new contract certainly doesn’t hurt.
“It allows me to play more freely, for sure,” Hardy said. “Coach wants me to stay hungry and keep doing what I’m doing. And I feel like that (playoffs) helped me for experience. It’s somewhere I want to be back.”
Looking for more: One of the many plotlines for the Mavericks early in the season will be how Dereck Lively II attacks his second year in the NBA.
In preseason games, he broke out a nice-looking jump-hook that he uses with both hands, something that he has spent a lot of time on in individual workouts.
“His hook shots he’s working on,” said Dončić about what he noticed that was different with Lively going into this season. “He’s a great kid. I see him working hard. It’s no surprise to me. After the first season he had, he didn’t stop working. He kept working.”
Kidd said it’s going to be interesting to watch Lively’s growth, particularly when it comes to meshing further with Dončić and Irving. It’s no secret that defenses will try to take away lob passes to Lively, so creating new actions together will be imperative.
And by the way, Kidd had some news for Lively on Wednesday.
“He’s still a rookie until tomorrow,” he said. “His jump during the season, starting to understand what we were asking from him both defensively and offensively, his relationship with Luka and also Kai, he took full advantage of that. He worked extremely hard on his game this summer and he’s ready to go.”
Briefly: Kidd said he watched both of the opening games on Tuesday night, but did not watch the Boston Celtics celebrate their 18th banner or ring ceremony. He did, however, like it when LeBron James and his son, Bronny, got on the court at the same time in the Los Angeles Lakers’ opener against Minnesota. “It was incredible for LeBron and Bronny to have that happen,” Kidd said. “It was a special moment. I thought it was great to see that and I wish them the best of luck.” . . . One key point of emphasis for the Mavericks early in the season will be ball movement. Said Kidd: “It’s been something we’ve talked about from Day One – moving the ball, don’t hold it. This week, it’s been at a high level and (we hope) we can carry that over to tomorrow. The weapons we have, being able to create something quickly or get off of it to the next guy – guys have done a really good job of making a conscious effort to move the ball.”
X: @ESefko
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