Tim Hardaway Jr. Has Golden Opportunity to Make Mark with New Knicks Regime
The New York Knicks enter the 2014-15 season looking to start a new chapter in franchise history under the Phil Jackson administration, following a decade mired with disappointment.
Going into his second year, Tim Hardaway Jr. has a great chance to be establish himself as a key player for the franchise and its future.
Hardaway was already viewed as virtually "untouchable" at the trade deadline, according to Marc Berman of the NY Post, but with Jackson and Derek Fisher arriving since then, he still has work to do to generate that same confidence from this new regime.
The new season also presents an opportunity to Hardaway as much as anything. With tempered expectations, Fisher will be experimental with his lineups, so the young guard will get his chance to carve his role in the new system.
Without a doubt, Hardaway has the potential to become the Knicks' marquee prospect if he continues to impress like he did in his rookie season, where he averaged 10.2 points per game on 43 percent shooting off the bench. It's no surprise that the team picked up his third-year option, even while they remain unsure about the futures of Iman Shumpert and Shane Larkin.
Now part of the triangle offense, Hardaway should find himself more clean spot-up opportunities from outside, where he flourishes, but the onus is on him to improve his game elsewhere.
One-dimensional shooters aren't exactly indispensable in the NBA, but players who can hit the three and find other ways to score, as well as contribute defensively, are very useful.
Watching him in summer league and preseason, it's clear he's put on some weight—NBA.com now lists him as 210 lbs as opposed to the 200 lbs (via NBADraft.net) he weighed going into his rookie season. This has helped him get to the rim more often and will also be a bonus on the defensive end, particularly against some of the league's more physical 2-guards.
2014-15 isn't just big on a personal level—New York needs him to be a well-rounded shooting guard if they're, as rumored, thinking about letting go of Shumpert at the end of the season to save cap space.
For a while now, it has looked like the franchise was eventually going to have to choose between Hardaway, Shumpert and J.R. Smith, and from a purely financial standpoint, Hardaway is the ideal fit.
If his play justifies it, too, the Knicks will find themselves much more flexible in free agency without Shumpert's return being essential. A good first half would surely open up the possibility of trading one of the other shooting guards at the deadline, too.
Hardaway's potential isn't hard to see. While there are some very obvious flaws in his game (none of which are particularly surprising for a young player), his rookie season was great for a No. 24 overall pick.
He plays confidently, but not to the point where he thinks he's set at his current stage of development—traits he no doubt picked up from his five-time All-Star father and his three-year stint at Michigan.
While many may write the 2014-15 season off as a precursor to New York's 2015 free-agency hunt, it isn't just a year that can be wasted.
The win-loss record won't be too important, but there are certain things we need to see on the court—including the team picking up the triangle, Fisher getting used to the sidelines and young players like Hardaway stepping up and proving their worth to Jackson and Company.
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