Tim Hardaway Jr., Mavs have interest in long-term deal

Mavericks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and should command a sizable deal somewhere in the league. That said, it sounds like both Hardaway and Dallas brass are hoping to continue their partnership.

Ahead of his free agency, Hardaway acknowledged his enthusiasm for the Mavericks, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “If you were to talk to anybody in this organization and anybody that’s around me, they will definitely say that I love it here,” Hardaway said.

Bringing Hardaway back to Dallas on a long-term deal is one of the club’s prime goals, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com. The 6’5″ veteran wing was a big contributor to a Mavericks team that pushed the Clippers to the brink in a competitive seven-game first-round series matchup. Hardaway averaged 16.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.8 APG across 70 regular season games with the Mavericks. He boasted a shooting line of .447/.391/.816.

“It’s a big summer for us,” team president Donnie Nelson acknowledged. “We’re looking forward to putting the other building blocks in place. We’ll look internally first, as we always do. We like a lot of the things that we’ve seen.”

There’s more out of Dallas:

• Mavericks All-Star Luka Dončić put up a terrific playoff series performance against the Clippers, but it appears that he could use the help of a true second option after his team fell short to L.A. in the first round for the second straight season. Sam Quinn of CBS.com takes an in-depth look at Dallas’s potential paths for adding another star.
• The Mavericks will have an action-packed offseason as they look to cement their roster for the 2021-22 season, which will include decisions on several key role players and one essential superstar, writes Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. Caplan notes that the Mavericks could have as many as eight free agents and five contract extensions to juggle. Ahead of the final year of his rookie-scale deal, Luka Dončić will be eligible for a maximum contract extension this summer worth over $200M. Other choices facing Dallas include a determination on whether or not to fully guarantee the $1,802,057 2021-22 season salary of reserve guard Jalen Brunson.
• Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged that the club’s roster will undergo some changes this summer in an interview with Dallas-area radio station 96.7 The Ticket, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). “I don’t know at this time whether the majority of our moves will be through trade or will be through free agency, but I know we will be active,” Carlisle said.