Tim Hardaway Jr. Preview: A relief valve for Detroit's offense

When the Detroit Pistons acquired Tim Hardaway Jr. from the Dallas Mavericks last summer, the trade left many Pistons fans scratching their heads. That feeling is understandable considering Detroit parted ways with Quentin Grimes, a young winger with theoretical potential whose schedule was a better fit for players like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.

And while Grimes has shown time and time again that he is an active rotation player, he has struggled with injuries for most of his young career, and Detroit desperately needs a consistent shooting presence throughout the season if they are to provide the spacing their young backfield needs.

Hardaway has played in more than 70 games in four of his last five seasons, shooting the long ball at a 38% shooting rate on nearly 7.5 attempts per game over that five-season span. He can shoot well, and while he may not bring much more to the table considering the Pistons ranked 26th in team three-point percentage and 29th in team three-point percentage last season three-point shots, his strength directly addresses one of Detroit's most glaring weaknesses.

Offensive expectation

It is not yet known who head coach JB Bickerstaff will use as the fifth starter on opening night, as he can choose between Hardaway Jr., Simone Fontecchio and Malik Beasely. But for Hardaway, whether in the starting lineup or on the bench, his role will likely be the same. He will be tasked with shooting the basketball and scoring, a similar role to Alec Burks last season. On a team that reached the NBA Finals last season, Hardaway logged nearly 27 minutes per game while scoring 14.4 points per game on a 40/35/85 shooting distribution.

Over the course of his career, the majority of his production came outside of painting. He doesn't get to the rim or the free throw line with any regularity, averaged just 2.1 free throw attempts per game last year and has a career-low shooting percentage at the rim. But he is not required to be a primary creator – nor should he be. Catching and shooting the basketball is the motto. Hardaway ranked 20th among all NBA players in catch-and-shoot three-pointers made last season and will be asked to copy and paste those performances this season.

Hardaway is a much more effective scorer when assisted than when he makes it himself – nearly 78% of his field goals last season came from an assist. That's not necessarily shocking considering he was often paired with one of the league's best passers and usage percentage gods, Luka Doncic. Hardaway will find similar opportunities this season, as he often finds himself in situations where he's one of the better shooting options next to Detroit's floor general in Cunningham or with Ivey, whose passing skills are most evident in drive and kick situations.

Detroit could also use Hardaway as a de facto backup point guard. Detroit's shooting guard/wing rotation is relatively deep, but their backup point guard slot is undetermined. Bickerstaff could split Ivey and Cunningham's minutes or opt for Marcus Sasser to handle those duties. But there's a world in which he uses his bench in unconventional ways, tasking Hardaway with bringing the ball up and getting Detroit into their sets, and not necessarily running the offense as a traditional point guard.

Defensive expectation

Hardaway isn't known for his defensive skills, but he has enough size (6-foot-2 and 200 pounds) and speed to stay on the floor and guard the opposing team's positions one through three. One of his best attributes may be relieving pressure on Cunningham and Ivey, who often guard similar positions. Especially in the case of Cunningham, who has committed silly fouls in games before that limited his ability to stay on the floor.

Hardaway is not expected to play more than 30 minutes per game. So if he can save Cunningham from a foul here and there, that could put Cunningham in the flow of the game and not worry about being sent off early in the first half due to fouls that players like Hardaway are better at accumulating should be. Now, you wouldn't want to rely on Hardaway to regularly guard the Jayson Tatums and Paul Georges of the world, but he was tasked with similar duties with the Mavericks, essentially protecting Doncic from the NBA's alpha predators.

General expectations

Think of Hardaway Jr. as a human pressure relief valve. Detroit's offense desperately needs space to operate, and he creates it with his shots. Detroit's offense desperately needed someone to step up to the plate when their starters weren't feeling well, and he's providing that with his scoring prowess.

The former Michigan Wolverine will be exactly what you should expect him to be – a shooter and scorer. He'll make some head-turning shots, but he'll also turn heads on any given night. He isn't being asked to do anything revolutionary, nor should he be wanted or expected, and that's fine.