Jaden Hardy has this rush of confidence where he feels no one can guard him one-on-one.
There’s six minutes remaining in Friday’s summer league game between the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls. Hardy receives a pass from the right corner and tries to drive along the baseline. He runs out of room with Bulls guard Javon Freeman-Liberty in front of him. Hardy gathers his dribble, brings the ball behind his back, steps back and hits a fadeaway jumper in the fellow rookie’s face.
It was two of Hardy’s 28 points in his Dallas debut. The Mavericks lost the game, but it was the beginning of Hardy’s newest adventure, back in Las Vegas where he became one of the most decorated prep basketball players to ever play in Southern Nevada.
“Just to come back home and play in front of my family and friends,” Hardy said, “it’s great.”
Hardy was selected by the Mavericks in the second round (No. 37 overall) in this past June’s NBA Draft. Dallas, which did not have a draft pick after trading its first-round selection to acquire former UNLV big man Christian Wood in an offseason trade with the Houston Rockets, sent two future second-round picks to the Sacramento Kings to select the 6-foot-4 guard.
Two years ago, it would’ve seemed unprecedented to think Hardy would fall to the second round. Twenty minutes away from Thomas & Mack Center, Hardy was averaging nearly 31 points per game as a junior at Coronado High School.
Hardy was the No. 4 prospect in the country for the class of 2021. The three above him — Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero and Shaedon Sharpe — went in the top-10 in this year’s draft, with Banchero and Holmgren going No. 1 and 2, respectively.
The difference is the three lottery picks each played college basketball. Hardy, who didn’t play his senior year due to the pandemic, bypassed college and signed with the NBA G League Ignite, the developmental team designed to developing top prospects to prepare them for the draft.
Hardy felt he belonged in that conversation of being a lottery pick. When he got to Dallas, the 20-year-old felt that commitment from his new team. Dallas signed Hardy to his three-year rookie contract on Wednesday.
“I for sure had a chip on my shoulder,” Hardy said. “I just really wanted to prove to myself. I really didn’t care what other people had to say. Those long hours in the gym and putting my trust in God, I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder.”
During Hardy’s introductory press conference, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said he was surprised that Hardy kept falling in the draft. Hardy averaged 21.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and just under four assists with the G League Ignite.
The Mavericks felt that Hardy came into summer league with something to prove. He might not have been drafted when he wanted to, Mavericks summer league coach Greg St. Jean said, but he ended up where he was supposed to be.
“I think he’s just an extremely eager learner. He’s 20. He wants to know everything about everything at all times,” St. Jean said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun as his maturation process goes. We don’t want him drinking from the fire hose. He wants two fire hoses.”
A native from Detroit, Jaden Hardy moved to Las Vegas with his family in 2017 when his older brother Amauri committed to UNLV. The elder Hardy was an All-Mountain West guard before he played his graduate year at Oregon.
Jaden, meanwhile, was a star for a Coronado program that never had that. After the Cougars went undefeated in league play three straight years, Hardy led the transition phase. He averaged 25.3 points per game as a freshman and led Coronado to a spot in the Sunrise Region championship game.
“I feel like I took that program to the next level and people know what it is now,” Hardy said. “I feel like it wasn’t known, but now it’s known for basketball.”
Hardy won’t be guaranteed any playing time his rookie year, but he’s in an ideal situation for a player his age. The Mavericks, led by MVP candidate Luka Doncic, are coming off a surprising trip to the Western Conference Finals. They reinforced their frontcourt by trading for Wood and signing veteran center – and former Nevada-Reno product – JaVale McGee to a three-year deal.
The guard position poses the biggest question. Dallas lost playoff hero Jalen Brunson in free agency to the New York Knicks, providing an open spot at either guard position.
Hardy said the biggest strides he’s made in his game since his Coronado days are his playmaking and defense, qualities that coach Jason Kidd always looks for from his guards.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.