Tim Hardaway Jr saw his stock hit a high last season with the New York Knicks. The second-year shooting guard had a strong rookie season averaging 10.2 points while shooting 42 percent from the field. Hardaway Jr's potential was all anyone could talk about and with trade rumors circling both JR Smith and Iman Shumpert, he looked poised to take over the starting job. However, that has not been the case and the shooting guard is disappointed in his playing time.
Hardaway Jr is averaging 11 minutes per game through four games of the 2014 season. As the Knicks sit at 2-2 on the year, the shooting guard has not contributed much of anything on the court which might be the surprise of the season. There was plenty of talk in the offseason about the growing spotlight around the shooting guard, but that has greatly diminished for the first-round pick.
"After last year, it's kind of tough, but at the same time, you can't harp on it," Hardaway Jr said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "You've got to mature, and you've got to understand what comes into play and where he's coming from. Everything he's doing right now is working for us. So you can't complain. You've just got to go out there, and when your jersey, your name is called, you've just got to go out there and compete."
Hardaway Jr understands that playing time is up to the coaching staff and he simply needs to be patient when it comes to getting on the court. Both head coach Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson have been complimentary towards the guard and believe he can contribute, but with Smith and Shumpert also playing well, finding minutes is difficult.
"I think Tim is still evolving as a player. He's doing some really great things for us, so it's not so much having a hard time getting him minutes," Fisher said. "It's just the way it's been these last couple of nights. Like we talked about before, we have 15 guys that can play every night. Every guy won't get a chance to play as much as he would like.
If Hardaway Jr is lucky, one of the two other guards will get traded. There is certainly that possibility considering the amount of rumors surrounding both. Shumpert did not have his option picked up which means he will be a free agent in 2015 and the Knicks could try and trade him to get something in return. Smith is a valuable player still in the league despite his antics. If a deal for Shumpert fails, they could target Smith instead.
