Four years ago, Tim Hardaway Jr. signed a massive offer sheet with the New York Knicks as a restricted free agent with the Hawks that stunned the NBA world. However, after getting sent to Dallas alongside Kristaps Porzingis two years ago, Hardaway has lived up to that deal and found himself in line for another big pay day as one of the best wings on the market.
Hardaway Jr. has been nothing short of tremendous the last two seasons in Dallas as a shooter and secondary creator alongside Luka Doncic. In those two seasons, he’s averaged 16.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game on 44.1/39.4/81.7 shooting splits, becoming one of the Mavs’ most consistent offensive weapons in the process. As such, the Mavs were very interested in bringing him back to Dallas, but Hardaway Jr. had plenty of other suitors who were looking for an upgrade in the area of perimeter shooting from the wing.
In the end, Hardaway Jr. chose to run it back in Dallas on a 4-year, $72 million deal that will keep him handsomely paid, spacing the floor alongside Doncic, per Chris Haynes and Marc Stein.
Free agent guard Tim Hardaway has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks on a four-year, $72 million deal, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 2, 2021
The Mavericks have their expected commitments from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Boban Marjanovic, league sources say.
For Hardaway Jr., it's $72 million over four years. https://t.co/Ww2oapDitt
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 2, 2021
Woj confirmed the deal, but has it at $74 million (the discrepancy is likely regarding potential bonuses deemed unlikely).
Tim Hardaway Jr.'s four-year deal with the Mavericks is worth $74M, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 2, 2021
While Dallas had hopes of landing Kyle Lowry, that ship seems to have sailed and for now they have gone to work on locking down their own free agents. Hardaway Jr. was a top priority from a basketball perspective, while re-signing Boban Marjanovic both keeps frontcourt depth and one of Doncic’s closest friends on the team. The question is where they go from here, as they can still work out some significant deals with free agents if they want to and sign them before Hardaway Jr. puts pen to paper, as they look to take another step forward next season.
