New York Knicks: How players who departed in 2018-19 fared elsewhere

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Slash Line (with Mavericks): .404/.321/.767
Season Averages (with Mavericks): 15.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 2.4 3PM

The first month of the 2018-19 season was stellar for Tim Hardaway Jr., averaging over 20 points per game for the New York Knicks. All seemed well and potentially marked a surge in the veteran guard’s game, until he regressed to the means of 38.8 percent shooting with continuous, inefficient performances for about two months.

It was a disparaging run for Hardaway, even with plantar fasciitis lingering. His value did not seem great, and the Knicks had up to two years left on this questionable, long-term deal signed in 2017.

However, the front office managed to move Hardaway’s salary in the Porzingis trade and escaped what could have been two long years.

Hardaway found a lesser role in Dallas, which better suits his game than as the lead scorer on a league-worst team. The results were still inefficient, but he found a few three-pointers per game. That ability should make the Michigan product stick as a sixth man down the road.

Injuries have always been prevalent in Hardaway’s career, including 2017-18. By the end of March, the Mavs shut him down with a stress fracture in his left tibia, eerily similar to what he suffered in New York.

Obviously, this is a concern for Hardaway’s future, even when he returns next season. Recurring, long-term ailments never bode well for a player’s career. Hopefully, for his case, this is the end of the leg issues.