Atlanta Hawks: Tim Hardaway Jr. Is Showing His Desire To Become A Better Player
The Atlanta Hawks face a dilemma in deciding whether or not they should re-sign Tim Hardaway Jr. It’s hard to tell if he’ll improve next season, but you can’t say he’s not trying.
Everyone is waiting to see what the Atlanta Hawks do with their free agents in the offseason.
Paul Millsap is due for a max contract, and Tim Hardaway Jr. could ask for a great amount of cash to stay in Atlanta.
At this point, we all know what Millsap is capable of. The Hawks know Millsap is a veteran of the game that can give you a great effort night in, and night out, and has a high IQ. But they also realize he’s 32 years old and that he could decline at any moment.
What they don’t know is Hardaway’s ceiling. Hardaway is 25 years old, so there is room for improvement but, how good can he be? Is Hardaway a future 6th man? Is he an All-Star? Is he a superstar?
If you’ve watched any Hawks games this season, you would know it’s hard to read the potential of Hardaway. There were games where Hardaway played 30+ minutes and looked nonexistent. There were other games where Hardaway put the entire team on its back in the clutch to help get a win.
The former Michigan star averaged 14.5 points this season coming off the bench at times. During the playoffs, Hardaway laid an egg. He averaged 12.8 points and his shooting percentages went down. Despite his inconsistency, he’s motivated to take his game to the next level.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUvQw5UAbN9/?taken-by=timmyjr10&hl=en
The Instagram videos above show Tim Hardaway Jr. working on isolation moves and pull-up jumpers. This season Hardaway showed he can score by taking what the defense gives him. He proved he could make something happen with some help from teammates. He scored using screens and fast breaks. What he didn’t do on the regular basis was take guys one on one and score while being heavily contested. If Hardaway uses any of the moves showed in these videos, he’ll be harder to stop.
Watching videos like these make it harder on the Hawks organization to make a decision on whether to keep Hardaway or not. Other teams will offer him Hardaway a good penny.
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The question is how much money is he worth? That’s a hard question to answer but, it’s obvious he wants to get better. The NBA finals haven’t even started yet, and he’s already working his butt off to make an impact on whatever team signs him this offseason.