It may have only been one half of preseason action, but Tim Hardaway Jr. is already leaving a strong impression with Miami Heat fans. So much so that, in his debut, he did a great job of helping to ease the frustration (especially among Heat fans) of losing Anfernee Simons to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Going back to the start of NBA Free Agency, Simons was viewed as an ideal (and realistic) target for the Heat as they looked to start building out the supporting cast around Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Instead of picking up Simons, it was Hardaway Jr. that the Heat ended up prioritizing. As expected, there was some questioning from Heat fans, and understandably so. But at least in his preseason debut, it's hard to argue with the initial results from Hardaway Jr.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is in the perfect position to thrive in Miami
In 11 first-half minutes of the Heat's preseason opener against the Toronto Raptors, Hardaway Jr. finished with 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field, connecting on all his 3-point attempts.
Hardaway Jr. was a firecracker off the bench and looked every bit the microwave scorer that Miami is going to need on the second unit. Despite the concern that came with the signing, Hardaway Jr. may already be proving that the Heat made the right decision.
Again, it's just one half of preseason, and it would be foolish to overreact to it, but it's clear that Hardaway Jr.'s performance in the game against the Raptors was part of the reason why they thought he was the perfect candidate for what the Heat was going to need off the bench.
While there was some clunkiness with a couple of the Heat's new players, that wasn't the case with Hardaway Jr. There was no hesitation when he was on the floor. He knew exactly what his job was and performed it as well as one would expect.
Considering that there were questions about whether Hardaway Jr. could carry over his offensive efficiency from last season, his debut was a pretty strong statement. I suppose it would be foolish to expect Hardaway Jr. to shoot 100 percent from the field; it does speak to the opportunities and spacing in the Heat's offense that he's going to get. Mind you, Hardaway Jr. didn't even get any minutes alongside Giannis.
You can only imagine the possibilities that Erik Spoelstra will be able to create with Hardaway Jr., especially if he's going to be a highly efficient player on a consistent basis.
It's still extremely early, and we haven't seen Simons make his 76ers debut yet, but Hardaway Jr. is already making Heat fans forget about that "whiff" from this past offseason.
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