20 free agents that could join Ricky Rubio (and Gordon Hayward) with the Utah Jazz
By Ryan Aston
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Despite coming into the league as a late first-round pick, Tim Hardaway Jr. has the look of one of the league’s rising shooting guards. As a fourth-year player, he had his best season to date, averaging 14.5 points and three rebounds per game while shooting just under 36 percent from distance.
He’s not quite doing the UTEP two-step a la the senior Hardaway, but he has become a talented, multi-dimensional scorer in his own right. He dropped 20 or more points 23 times in 2016-17 and, in a late-season game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 36 points.
One thing Hardaway needs to do is become more consistent; his shooting numbers have been all over the map throughout his NBA career and he’s struggled mightily in the playoffs, hitting just 32 percent of his shots overall and 23 percent from three-point range.
Hardaway will be a restricted free agent, which also presents some challenges.