The Josh Green/Jaden Hardy emergence thread

[Thespiralgoeson]

The Kyrie trade has understandably gotten all of the attention in the Mavericks' world right now. And I've allowed myself to be cautiously optimistic about acquiring the most polarizing player in the league (and that's putting it nicely.) But what I have absolutely no reservations or apprehensions about, and I am unreservedly thrilled about is the full-blown breakout season of Josh Green, and the sheer talent and enormous potential of Jaden Hardy.

I'll admit, I have been a very harsh critic of Green's over the past few years. When he showed so little progress from year one to year two, and when I didn't see immediate and dramatic improvement in year three, I had all but given up on him and thought drafting him was a wasted pick. It of course became a much tougher pill to swallow seeing multiple players drafted after him turning out to be borderline stars. But I guess it was silly of me to give up on player when he was only 21 or 22. I'm thrilled to be wrong, because the guy has developed into a valuable NBA player on both ends of the court.

And we all knew Jaden Hardy had talent. But I thought he was so raw that it would be at least until year two before we saw him get meaningful minutes, let alone contribute anything. But here we see the flashes of brilliance and meaningful contribution already. The kid is ahead of schedule.

For most of this season I had gotten quite pessimistic about the Mavs' future. But with these two young players showing so much potential, I've suddenly become optimistic and quite excited again.