Mavs' Tim Hardaway Jr. exercises player option

Tim Hardaway Jr. is exercising his $19 million player option. He will return to the Mavs after thriving in a starting role last season.

Source: Tim MacMahon of ESPN

ANALYSIS: Hardaway played a huge part for Dallas last season, especially when the team was without Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis in certain pockets. Equally, he served as an ideal third option when both stars were healthy. Hardaway is coming off a career-best 39.8 percent three-point clip to go along with his 15.8 points per game.