Tim Hardaway Jr.

[Jamaaliver]

Piece in USAToday about THJ:

The 6-6 Atlanta guard suffered a broken right wrist in the 2015 NBA Summer League, and the injury nagged him into the fall. He didn’t regroup fast enough for Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer and, on opening night, playing against the Detroit Pistons, with his father on the Pistons bench as an assistant coach, Tim, Jr. was inactive.

“It was heart-breaking,” he said.

A member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 2013-14 with the Knicks when he played 81 games, Hardaway’s career went sprawling into the D-League twice this season.

“It was a learning experience,” Hardaway said. “All caps on ‘learning experience’.”

The Hawks wanted to see more out of him on the defensive end and Hardaway admitted his injury took him out of game shape for that end of the floor. The whole marriage looked like a bust with the Hawks taking flak for surrendering a 2015 first-round pick for a player they couldn’t get on the court.

“We’re happy with the way Tim has responded. He had an injury that was a little bit understated,” Budenholzer said. “The ultimate goal in our league is to be a two-way player. I think he has the athleticism where he can be a good two-way guy. He’s on his way.”

Here

Wow. It's noteworthy how many national pieces have been written about our SGs this year. (Kyle, Bazemore, THJ)
Hoping he's truly on his way to being a long-term piece here.

Question: Did THJ even play in our 2015 Summer League? That's clearly incorrect, right?

[Rip2137]

I am liking Tim. I just need him to realize his range is not 3 point but midrange. Just like Justin Holiday and to some extent Mike Scott...they are deadly midrange shooters that settle for being average 3 point shooters. Yes, it gets you more points. Yes, it spreads the court, but if our Center is going to play that high(sigh) they need to step underneath some...expecially considering it plays to their strengths more.

[Jamaaliver]

Tide is turning locally on how the THJ acquisition is perceived:

That Tim Hardaway Jr. for Jerian Grant trade is really starting to work out … for the Hawks.

The Hawks acquired Hardaway from the Knicks in a draft-night trade for Grant as the 19th overall pick. Hardaway, entering his third NBA season, had a well-documented slow start with the Hawks as he battled a wrist injury, learned a new system and dedicated himself to the defensive end of the court. He played sparingly (just four of the first 35 games) and popular opinion was the Knicks got one over on the Hawks. That’s not the case anymore.

Hardaway has now assumed the backup shooting guard spot, appeared in 29 games and averaged 4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 15.6 minutes. He has played in each of the past 25 games since returning from a short stint in the NBA Development League. His playing time has increased and coach Mike Budenholzer is turning to Hardaway for late-game defense. He has played more than 25 minutes in two of the past three games.

Budenholzer and several teammates said Hardaway played his best game of the season against the Hornets.

Here

[jayu70]

Tide is turning locally on how the THJ acquisition is perceived:

That Tim Hardaway Jr. for Jerian Grant trade is really starting to work out … for the Hawks.

The Hawks acquired Hardaway from the Knicks in a draft-night trade for Grant as the 19th overall pick. Hardaway, entering his third NBA season, had a well-documented slow start with the Hawks as he battled a wrist injury, learned a new system and dedicated himself to the defensive end of the court. He played sparingly (just four of the first 35 games) and popular opinion was the Knicks got one over on the Hawks. That’s not the case anymore.

Hardaway has now assumed the backup shooting guard spot, appeared in 29 games and averaged 4.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 15.6 minutes. He has played in each of the past 25 games since returning from a short stint in the NBA Development League. His playing time has increased and coach Mike Budenholzer is turning to Hardaway for late-game defense. He has played more than 25 minutes in two of the past three games.

Budenholzer and several teammates said Hardaway played his best game of the season against the Hornets.

Here

I've been presently surprised by his defense considering how bad he was touted as being.
Good for him.
Bud is actually subbing him in as a defender.

[atlantabbq99]

Who knows if THJ will get traded again, but from the looks of it, Budz is very confident that Hardaway can thrive in his system.

Its clear that Budz knows his basketball and has players that he targets for his system. Budz knows the players he wants and the skill set he wants and goes by his own scouting report. Budz has been a fan of Hardaway for a while "We have had our eye on him for a while"

It took Thabo and Baz half a year to learn the system and get serious playing time. I expect Hardaway to also have a slow start while he is learning the system, but it will be interesting to see if Budz can develop Hardaway into contributing starter and all start like he did with DMC and Korver.

Just like i predicted, Hardaway had a rough start but is slowly slowly contributing to the team as we reach the end of the season.

[Jamaaliver]

Brad Rowland over at Peachtree Hoops counters the assertion espoused above by C-Vivlamore:

Tim Hardaway Jr. is (finally) starting to make an impact for the Atlanta Hawks, and that is a good thing.

...his playing time has increased exponentially, to the point where... the hype machine has begun to churn surrounding THJ and [is] getting a bit out of control.

Since the time he arrived in Atlanta...the deal was almost universally panned, simply because the value associated with a mid-first round pick was not commensurate with what Hardaway Jr. had displayed during his time with the Knicks...but now, there seems to be a shift in thinking that has resulted in some claiming "victory" for Atlanta's side of the deal.

Much of this sentiment is tied directly to the failures of New York Knicks rookie guard Jerian Grant and that doesn't make a great deal of sense. No intelligence exists that projects that the Hawks would have selected Grant with their first-round selection, so a one-for-one comparison between the two players is nonsensical. Beyond that reality, though, Tim Hardaway Jr. hasn't been nearly as good in his recent time as the optics may suggest.

Here

A fun, quick read putting THJ's recent production into perspective.

And for the record, I agree wholeheartedly with him. THJ has played better and looks like an actual NBA rotation player, but giving up yet another mid-first round draft pick for modest returns will continue to effect us negatively moving forward.

[jayu70]

This is an excerpt from an article on the new training staff...

Hardaway was slowed by a wrist injury most of last season with the Knicks, and after the Hawks acquired him in a Draft night trade in June http://www.nba.com/2015/news/06/26/hawks-knicks-trade.ap/index.html, he was still slow to respond. The injury kept him from being able to lift and train for a couple of months -- which, of course, affected his conditioning. And once the season begins, getting the work in becomes exponentially difficult.
But Lyles and his staff have made major strides with Hardaway since the start of the season. It wouldn't have happened if the coaching staff was more interested in getting Hardaway -- a big offseason piece -- on the floor rather than getting him healthy.
So Hardaway lived in the weight room -- "it was my second home," he said. He got on the resistance bike, ran three-minute runs every other week, and got to practice early.
"The decision is, well, how much do we want to focus on basketball, versus the performance or getting his body back," Lyles said. "And I think we all realized that, probably more the coaches, the coaches saw that, if we spend some time and let him get back physically, it's going to make him better on the court. And so we kind of made a shift of his performance being the priority. So he was in the gym four or five times a week, he's always doing extra conditioning. He's putting in a massive amount of work that we wouldn't normally in season, but because that was the goal, we could do it. It really paid off. Now, Tim's playing at a high level, and really contributing."
It was also vital that Hardaway saw the big picture, too.
"He made a commitment to getting real strong, and really well-conditioned, and getting back to being an elite athlete," Budenholzer said. "And he busted his butt with those guys, and they busted their butts with him. And he did everything -- he went to the D-League, and he's playing at a high level. And his body, it's very tangible, what Tim was able to do and what he accomplished."
Hardaway said it was tough to hear from Budenholzer that he wasn't going to play for a while. "But I knew what was at stake," he said. "I know what coach wanted me to do. When the coaches are able to talk to the players one on one, it makes life a lot easier, just to know what they want out of that player. It was great to have coach Bud just talk to me one on one, consistently, and not have me worry about it. He hears the positives I'm doing. And that helped me out tremendously."

I find the bolded part interesting - it appears the plan all along was to not have him play to start the season but focus on rehab and and health. That's gotta be tough for a player to hear, but he didn't pout and he put the work in.

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/david_aldridge/03/14/morning-tip-damian-lillard-takes-over-for-trail-blazers-atlanta-hawks-cutting-edge-training-kyle-korver-paul-millsap-qa-with-memphis-grizzlies-vince-carter/index.html

[PandaKidd]

Kudos to Bud on making THJ see the bigger picture, and kudos to THJ for acting like a professional

[ATL Boy]

Is it safe to say that THJ is now worth the 19th pick we gave up for him?

I get it, we overpaid at the time for him, and could've gotten him for something closer to a couple of second round picks, nothing is going to change that. However, with the strides he's made, and with his youth, I'm not that torn up anymore about the value we did part with.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Jamaaliver]

Is it safe to say that THJ is now worth the 19th pick we gave up for him?

I get the thinking. And it's a very good question.

But I don't think so...not yet anyway. Based on his age, contract status and limited production..I'm still reticent to claim THJ as a definite long term piece or dependable contributor.

If we attempted to move into the top 20 in a weak draft this Summer, I am doubtful THJ alone gets us there. And there were a couple of young studs available at 19 last summer with higher ceilings. Particularly Bobby Portis.

I'd acknowledge that acquiring THJ looks much better today than it did six months ago, however.



Sent from my iPad using RealGM Forums

[King Ken]

He's getting better each week as he gets more confidence. This offseason will be the litmus test for him. If he can grow a lot, he could replace Korver

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Jamaaliver]

Is it safe to say that THJ is now worth the 19th pick we gave up for him?

THJ doing everything to make us reconsider.

He certainly looked good as a starter...against Denver.


Sent from my iPad using RealGM Forums

[atlantabbq99]

Looks like it was Hardaway's coming out party tonight. I'm turning out to be right about everything i predicted when the trade happen. I was ok with the trade when it happen, and I'm okay with the trade now

My other prediction in 2016 was that Tavares was going to have a horrible year like Dennis had in his first year, but will be big time contributor in 2017.

[Jamaaliver]

I only got to see a bit of last night's game...but I have to re-iterate how much better THJ looks now compared to a couple of months ago.

Shout out to the assistant coaches and the trainers.

I really would like to see THJ get another start with our starting 4 against better competition. Just to make sure this wasn't a mirage against a young team still learning the ropes.

Would THJ's emergence mean Bazemore is less likely to receive a huge offer from us?

[jayu70]

Remember at the start of the season we were all wondering why THJr wasn't playing as a matter of fact, he wasn't even on the active roster? Now we know why....Bud told him he wasn't going to play, the focus was on getting his wrist and entire body right.

Hardaway said it was tough to hear from Budenholzer that he wasn't going to play for a while. "But I knew what was at stake," he said. "I know what coach wanted me to do. When the coaches are able to talk to the players one on one, it makes life a lot easier, just to know what they want out of that player. It was great to have coach Bud just talk to me one on one, consistently, and not have me worry about it. He hears the positives I'm doing. And that helped me out tremendously."

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/features/david_aldridge/03/14/morning-tip-damian-lillard-takes-over-for-trail-blazers-atlanta-hawks-cutting-edge-training-kyle-korver-paul-millsap-qa-with-memphis-grizzlies-vince-carter/index.html

[ATL Boy]

I only got to see a bit of last night's game...but I have to re-iterate how much better THJ looks now compared to a couple of months ago.

Shout out to the assistant coaches and the trainers.

I really would like to see THJ get another start with our starting 4 against better competition. Just to make sure this wasn't a mirage against a young team still learning the ropes.

Would THJ's emergence mean Bazemore is less likely to receive a huge offer from us?

I would guess so. I think that was the plan all along, when Bud traded for THJ: have him be that next wing player that we groom into a valued contributor and starter, so that we can afford to not pay Bazemore. And if that wasn't the plan back then, I'd have to guess that it surely is now.

[jayu70]

I only got to see a bit of last night's game...but I have to re-iterate how much better THJ looks now compared to a couple of months ago.

Shout out to the assistant coaches and the trainers.

I really would like to see THJ get another start with our starting 4 against better competition. Just to make sure this wasn't a mirage against a young team still learning the ropes.

Would THJ's emergence mean Bazemore is less likely to receive a huge offer from us?

I've said previously that I would take no exception if the Hawks let Bazemore walk if the offers are too high. I would love to have him back as the starting SG or backup. THJr is just so much more controlled than Baze. When Baze drives I hold my breath.
I do think we need to keep the guys we are developing though, we can't have a revolving door at the wing position every year.

[PandaKidd]

BAZE will get paid, THJ will take his place is my guess. As for "winning the trade" that is so short sighted.

YOu better hope Portis doesnt become a monster. WAY too early to tell that yet IMO

[Jamaaliver]

BAZE will get paid, THJ will take his place is my guess. As for "winning the trade" that is so short sighted.

YOu better hope Portis doesnt become a monster. WAY too early to tell that yet IMO

That still leaves a spot open on the wing for us. We're all in agreement KK's days as a starter are over, right?

Thabo seems to be a permanent bench player in Bud's eyes.

[drone3]

I have been tracking THJ progress throughout the year. Really amazing what your staff have done with him. If he remains consistent you guys won that trade.