Mavs: Tim Hardaway Jr.’s play is setting him up for free agency payday

The Dallas Mavericks have torn through the LA Clippers in the first two games of their first-round series, and Tim Hardaway Jr. has been a huge part of the Mavs’ success.

While Luka Doncic is getting the headlines, Hardaway is leading a cast of role players utterly dominating their counterparts on the LA side. You won’t see his name or those of Maxi Kleber, Jalen Brunson or Dorian Finney-Smith in lights in this series, but the Mavs wouldn’t have the Clippers in a stranglehold without them.

Tim Hardaway Jr. is poised for a big payday in free agency thanks to his great start to the playoffs for the Mavs

Hardaway signed a four-year, $71 million offer sheet with the New York Knicks as a restricted free agent in 2016, and the Atlanta Hawks, who owned his restricted rights, declined to match. It was a clear overpay at the time, as many offer sheets were during an era of restricted free agency largesse, but it was initially scoffed at as one of the worst contracts in the NBA.

It turns out he’s lived up to his contract nicely. He ended up being one of the most desirable elements of the trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas from New York, and he’s peaking at just the right time for both his team and his own future.

Hardaway enters free agency in the offseason, coming off this derided contract. He’ll be able to point to not only a regular-season body of work over the past two years where he’s shot 39.4 percent from 3-point range and averaged 16.2 points per game (he shot 34.3 percent from 3 in his career previously) but his outstanding postseason play as well.

So far in the first two games of the NBA playoffs against the LA Clippers, Hardaway is averaging 24.5 points and shooting a ridiculous 64.7 percent from behind the arc. Obviously, you don’t expect even the best shooters to be able to keep that up, but not everybody can get that hot in the highest leverage moments in the postseason. It’s a valuable element and it’s something that Tim Hardaway Jr. can hang his hat on come free agency time.

The Mavs themselves should make sure they are at the front of the line for his services. It’s no secret that Hardaway’s play went into overdrive when he was united with Luka Doncic, so keeping the two of them together must be a priority.

Obviously, there is an upper limit that the Mavs should be willing to pay up to keep him, but both sides should be incentivized to keep him right where he is.