NBA Awards Rankings: New No. 1 in Sixth Man of the Year race

It's a little basic to credit Tim Hardaway Jr. as the high-scoring bench guard... but, Hardaway has been essential to the Dallas Mavericks' early success. He is bombing 3s at a career-high rate and providing immense support to the league's No. 5-ranked offense.

Hardaway is shooting averaging 8.9 attempts per game from 3-point range, despite averaging the fewest minutes (27.5) of his career since 2016-17. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are generally staggered as Dallas' primary offensive engines, but Hardaway is leaning all the way into his best skill. There is immense value in a volume shooter with Hardaway's reputation and gravity. Especially when he's hitting 38.4 percent of those shots.

For the season, Hardaway is averaging 16.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on .420/.384/.892 splits. He's only averaging 4.6 field goal attempts inside the arc, cutting out needless mid-range forays and focusing on what most helps Dallas' offense execute at the highest level. We have seen Hardaway place himself in the 6MOY conversation with flashes of self-creation and volume shooting in the past, but this is the most efficient and effective the Michigan product has been in a while.

He's not a great defender, but Hardaway is the classic sixth man turbo-booster for the Mavs' offense. So long as Dallas continues to stack wins, it will be difficult to keep the 31-year-old out of the awards conversation.