Tim Hardaway Jr. Offer Sheet Won't Be Matched by Hawks; SG to Join Knicks

Tim Hardaway Jr. is reportedly headed back to the New York Knicks.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Atlanta Hawks decided Saturday not to match the Knicks' four-year, $71 million offer sheet for the 25-year-old shooting guard. He noted the organization's official announcement is still "hours away," though.

That's not a surprise, considering ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz reported earlier this week the Hawks would have been comfortable offering him $45 million.

Hardaway Jr. will now rejoin the team that drafted him in 2013 and subsequently flipped him to the Atlanta Hawks two years later as part of the three-team trade that netted it Jerian Grant. 

And while Hardaway Jr. spent his first season in Atlanta split between the Hawks and their development league affiliate, the Austin Spurs, he rounded into form last year. 

In 79 appearances during the 2016-17 campaign, the University of Michigan product averaged a career-high 14.5 points while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three. 

Hardaway Jr. was particularly impressive after the All-Star break, when he was thrust into a more prominent role following the Hawks' trade of Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavaliers in January. 

In 32.0 minutes per game after the All-Star break, Hardaway Jr. poured in 17.5 points a night on 47.1 percent shooting from the field, including 37.3 percent shooting from deep. 

All told, Hardaway Jr.'s player efficiency rating spiked to a career-best mark of 15.2—up 3.5 points from the year prior.  

Headed back to the Big Apple, Hardaway Jr. will try to stay the course and continue his way up the developmental parabola as he seeks to expand his offensive arsenal with refined ball-handling skills and a smooth pull-up jumper to keep defenders off balance.

Advanced stats courtesy of Basketball Reference.