Tim Hardaway Jr., a second-generation Maverick and one of the few players who can say they started alongside Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, has been traded to the Detroit Pistons.
The 6-5 shooting guard was dealt along with three second-round draft picks to facilitate the acquisition of Quentin Grimes, a young swingman with both experience and promise.
The deal was one of many as NBA free agency rolled through its negotiating period toward Saturday, when teams officially began to sign deals that have been agreed upon during negotiations.
The trade of Hardaway also got the Mavericks below the first luxury-tax apron, allowing them to use their non-taxpayer mid-level exception of nearly $13 million to acquire or retain players of their choosing.
Before this move, the Mavericks would have been limited to the taxpayer MLE of $5.3 million.
Hardaway was, without question, a polarizing figure for the Mavericks. In his 11 NBA seasons, the last 5½ of which were with the Mavericks, he has proven himself as one of the most dependable streak shooters of all time.
When he’s in a zone, he can light it up like few other players. He did that in the NBA Finals when he had five three-pointers in a three-minute span of the fourth quarter of Game 4 against Boston.
When he’s not dialed in, the twine is in no danger of being tickled, which was the case when he didn’t score a point during the Western Conference finals against Minnesota or the first three games against Boston before his Game 4 eruption.
But he was always a solid teammate and kept the Mavericks going during the transition period between Nowitzki and Dončić. And through it all, his father, Tim Hardaway was usually no more than a phone call away and often in the stands watching Junior.
Hardaway’s dad played for the Mavericks for part of the 2001-02 season.
During his 352-game Mavericks’ career (183 starts), Hardaway Jr. averaged 15.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. He also shot 37.3 percent from three-point range, remarkable efficiency for somebody who averaged 7.5 triples per game.
In Grimes, the Mavericks are getting a player who originally was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers 25th overall in 2021. He was traded on draft night to New York and played his first two seasons with the Knicks.
He averaged 11.3 points in 71 games (66 starts) during the 2022-23 season when the Knicks reached the second round of the playoffs.
He was traded in February to the Detroit Pistons as part of the deal that brought Bojan Bogdanovic to the Knicks.
Grimes is entering his fourth NBA season and will earn $4.3 million in the coming season.
He’s also a capable three-point shooter, although he doesn’t have the history in that regard that Hardaway does.
The Mavericks got Hardaway as part of the trade that reaped Kristaps Porzingis in 2019. His best season in Dallas was 2020-21, when he averaged 16.6 points and shot 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.
But his numbers never varied wildly. He never averaged less than 14.2 points in a season for the Mavericks.
This season, Hardaway was consistent and productive enough that he was mentioned as a candidate for sixth man of the year when he was averaging 18.3 points through early February.
But the trades that brought P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford to the Mavericks altered the rotations and Hardaway slumped badly after the All-Star break.
What fans should remember, however, is that Hardaway was a good teammate and had times when he helped the Mavericks win a lot of games.
Such as:
Summer league schedule update: The NBA released the schedule of games for the NBA 2K25 Summer League in Las Vegas.
The Mavericks will open play on Saturday, July 13, the second day of competition, playing the Utah Jazz at 9:30 p.m., Dallas time.
The rest of the schedule:
Monday, July 15, vs. Memphis, 7 pm.
Wednesday, July 17, vs. Miami, 2 p.m.
Friday, July 19, vs. Boston, 2:30 p.m.
The Mavericks also will play at least one additional game, either on July 20 or 21, against an opponent to be determined after the first three games are used to seed all 30 teams.
Among the players expected to be participating for the Mavericks’ summer team are O-Max Prosper and No. 51 draft pick Melvin Ajinca.
The Mavericks are expected to have their summer roster intact before this weekend in advance of practices before departing to Las Vegas.
Below is the official news release announcing the trade of Hardaway:
DALLAS MAVERICKS ACQUIRE QUENTIN GRIMES FROM DETROIT
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have acquired guard Quentin Grimes from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and three future second-round picks.
“Quentin provides us with another young, versatile ball handler who can make shots,” stated Dallas Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison. “We’re a young team with a lot of energy, and we’re excited to incorporate his athleticism and ability to play both on and off the ball. His toughness in defending multiple positions, is exactly the complement we’re hoping to see here in Dallas.”
Grimes (6-5, 205) appeared in 51 games last season (45 for the Knicks, 6 for the Pistons) and averaged 5.3 points, 2.3 assists and 19.2 minutes during his time in Detroit. The 24-year-old Texas native was dealt at the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 8 to Detroit from the New York Knicks, where he averaged 7.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 20.2 minutes that included three season-high 19-point performances in 2023-24.
The three-year guard broke the Knicks record for most 3-pointers in a game by a rookie after seven 3-pointers made against Milwaukee (12/12/21). He ended his rookie season shooting 38.1 percent from behind the arc, one of four rookies in Knicks history to hit at least 38.0 percent from deep (min. 150 3FGA). In his sophomore season, he improved to 11.3 points per game (.468 FG%, .386 3FG%) and became one of three Knicks sophomores to record at least 35 points in a game in the last three decades (36 points at IND, 4/5/23).
Through 168 career games (90 starts), Grimes is averaging 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.7 steals on 37.1 percent shooting from deep. He was selected to the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars game for the NBA Sophomores.
Grimes was selected with 25th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers then traded to the New York after playing two seasons at the University of Houston (2019-21) and one at the University of Kansas (2018-19). During his collegiate career, he earned Third-Team All-American honors, AAC Co-Player of the Year and First-Team All-AAC his junior season in 2021.
Grimes will wear No. 5 for the Mavericks.
Hardaway Jr. appeared in 79 games (12 starts) for Dallas this past season, averaging 14.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. In his five full seasons with the Mavericks, he notched at least 200 3-pointers in four of the five years (2019-21, 2022-24), totaling more 200-3-point seasons (4) than every other Maverick combined (3). He was acquired by Dallas from the New York Knicks on Jan. 31, 2019. Hardaway Jr. has career averages of 14.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assist through 736 games (345 starts) over 11 seasons with New York, Atlanta and Dallas.
X:@ESefko
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