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The Dallas Mavericks acquired guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in a blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks last week that also brought big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavs.
On Wednesday night, Hardaway saw his first action in Dallas, and he got his Mavs tenure off to a loud start, throwing down an alley-oop slam in transition against the Charlotte Hornets.
Mark Cuban was loving it.
While Hardaway was certainly not the headline piece in the deal, he is also not someone whom you can merely characterize as a throw-in.
In 46 games with the Knicks this season, Hardaway averaged 19.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists over 32.6 minutes per game while shooting 38.8 percent from the floor, 34.7 percent from three-point range, and 85.4 percent from the free-throw line.
The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Michigan, was originally selected by New York in the first round (24th pick overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft.
He played in 81 games during his rookie campaign, registering 10.2 points across 23.1 minutes a night while making 42.8 percent of his field-goal attempts, 36.3 percent of his long-distance tries, and 82.8 percent of his foul shots.
Hardaway played the first two years of his career with the Knicks before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks during the summer of 2015.
He spent two seasons with the Hawks, and while he was quiet in his first year, he played very well during the 2016-17 campaign, recording 14.5 points per game while connecting on 45.5 percent of his shots.
Hardaway's solid season led to a Knicks reunion, as New York signed him to a four-year contract during the summer of 2017.
