NBA: Ranking all 30 starting small forwards for 2018-19

15. Tim Hardaway Jr., New York Knicks

This is probably a bit lofty for a guy who tripped, fell on his face and then tumbled down an entire mountain in the first year of his massive contract with the New York Knicks. Even so, Tim Hardaway Jr. can’t be that bad again in 2018-19, right?

Last year in his return to the Big Apple, THJ thoroughly underwhelmed. Though he averaged a career-high 17.5 points per game, they came on inefficient .421/.317/.816 shooting splits. He didn’t really contribute anywhere else on the stat sheet and he missed 25 games due to injury.

So how on earth does Hardaway rank so high heading into the upcoming season? Call this a leap of faith that a 26-year-old who shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent the year before will be better in his second season with the Knicks — especially under a more competent head coach who will feed him the ball with Kristaps Porzingis still sidelined.