3 Former Knicks who will take basketball's biggest stage in 2024 NBA Finals

2. Tim Hardaway Jr.

In the 2013 NBA Draft, the Knicks selected Tim Hardaway Jr. with the No. 24 overall pick. The small forward spent two seasons in New York before Phil Jackson sent him to Atlanta on draft night in 2015 for the rights to Jerian Grant.

He played only 51 games for the Hawks in 2015-16 and averaged 6.4 points per game. Hardaway had a breakout season in 2016-17, averaging 14.5 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field. The Knicks brought him back on a four-year, $71 million contract that summer.

Hardaway spent another season and a half with the Knicks before he was traded to the Mavericks as part of the Kristaps Porzingis deal. He's been in Dallas since. In the 2023-24 regular season, he started in 12 games (out of 79), the fewest number of starts since the trade. The 32-year-old hasn't been much of a factor in the postseason, averaging 4.6 points and 13 minutes per game across 10 contests.

It'd be huge if Hardaway can make the most of his minutes and get into some sort of shooting rhythm in the finals.