A scouting report on NBA draft prospect Jaden Hardy:
- Position: Guard
- Height: 6-4
- Weight: 190 pounds
- Last team: G League Ignite
If you’re searching for comparisons between Hardy and Bradley Beal, you’ll have lots of luck.
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Obviously, a career close to Beal’s would be tremendous and unusual for a player widely projected to be picked at or around No. 23, the Sixers’ selection in next Thursday’s NBA draft. Hardy is already familiar with several All-Stars, though. Per NBC Sports Washington’s Chase Hughes, Hardy told reporters he’s had a sit-down conversation with LeBron James, worked out multiple times with James Harden and Damian Lillard, and received advice from Trae Young.
A five-star high school recruit, Hardy played in 12 G League Showcase Cup games and 12 exhibition games last season. Across those contests, he averaged 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists, shooting 37.9 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from three-point range.
Strengths
Hardy is a skilled and confident shot creator. He’s also comfortable shooting off the catch and has potential running around off-ball screens and taking jumpers on the move.
NBA
We shouldn’t overlook a player’s ability to generate three-point attempts, even tightly contested ones. Some of what made Harden great during his Houston heyday was that he generated a bunch of long-distance shots for himself (12.8 three-point tries per game over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons) and converted a decent number of them (36.2 percent). Hardy can drain very deep jumpers and often finds small windows to shoot with subtle hesitations and other ball handling craftiness.
Like most 19-year-old guards, Hardy would benefit from gaining more muscle. He has solid size for his position, though, including a 6-foot-9 wingspan. Improvement with drawing free throws is one avenue toward Hardy increasing his efficiency, and that doesn’t seem unrealistic at all.
Weaknesses
In a broad sense, Hardy’s decision-making was his main issue last year.
Context always matters, and it’s worth highlighting the challenges of shifting from high-school dominance to professional basketball. But if NBA teams gave Hardy minutes and his shot selection and defensive effort were similar to this past season, they’d be frustrated.
Hardy changes speeds well, but he’s not like projected top-five pick Jaden Ivey as far as always having elite athleticism up his sleeve. Yes, he’s effective at creating shots, but there are times that just won’t be doable, or where passing would lead to a better opportunity for his team.
Hardy scored just 0.83 points per shot around the rim in the half court (eighth percentile), according to NBA.com. To pan out as a true three-level scoring threat in the NBA, he’ll need to refine his finishing. A reliable floater would be handy, too.
Fit
More perimeter scoring would be excellent for the Sixers, though Hardy’s still clearly a developing player and must prove he can be a dedicated, sturdy NBA defender.
While it’s unreasonable to expect every talented combo guard prospect to become Tyrese Maxey, perhaps the Sixers will feel fortunate that Hardy dropped to No. 23.