Tim Hardaway Jr. has it pretty good right now, what with being the second option behind Luka Doncic and all. He shouldn’t take this opportunity for granted because, before he knows it, Kristaps Porzingis’ unexplained knee soreness will magically resolve itself and THJ will have to go back to being the third option. Or Porzingis has terminally sore knees and will never play again. That would maybe be ideal for THJ from a purely selfish perspective, as he would get to take more shots, but it would not be ideal from a “winning championships” perspective.
THJ has been pretty dang good through seven games in January, shooting 49% from the field and 43% from three. Who wouldn’t want a second option who puts up eighteen PPG per game on those percentages? Those are like prime Khris Middleton numbers, except I bet THJ has way tighter handles than Middleton’s sloppy-doppy handles.
Maybe THJ really does play better with Porzingis out of the picture. Porzingis hasn’t played in January, meanwhile, THJ is beasting in January. The numbers are there and they are irrefutable (if you refute them I will just ignore them – that makes them irrefutable). But you can’t just trade Porzingis after paying him like he’s a superstar, so the Mavericks are going to have to figure out a way to make this work. Hire me as a GM and I’ll figure something out. I’m good at figuring things out. My trade ideas involving Thon Maker will certainly ingratiate myself with th