When the Atlanta Hawks chose to take Tim Hardaway, Jr. from the New York Knicks in exchange for a first-round draft pick, it raised many questions on both ends of the team.

Now, comments made by Knicks' Phil Jackson may slowly shed some light on the move and could actually turn out to be something in favor of the Hawks.

During his time at Madison Square Garden, Hardaway, Jr. was seen as a streaky player who could help the team in offense, but sometimes be a liability especially in the defensive end.

In his two years in the league, he has averaged 10.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 points per game while playing around 24 minutes per contest.

However, he was seen as surplus to the plans of the Knicks, and as a result he was traded to the Hawks for a pick.

Jackson, who spoke with Hardaway, Jr. before the decision was made to allow JR Smith and Iman Shumpert to leave for the Cleveland Cavaliers, revealed that among the three swingmen, Hardaway, Jr. was the one who showed most promise and the determination to learn from his mistakes.

Charley Rosen of ESPN.com revealed what went on between Hardaway and Jackson in his article, saying: "Hardaway was more responsive, he says. "I told him he was casting the ball instead of shooting it. And if his man scored on him at the other end, Tim tried to get back at him by forcing up some kind of shot. Plus, his defense was hurting the team. He was not closing out on 3-point shooters and forcing them to put the ball on the floor, not trusting that defensive help would arrive on the second dribble. Still, [Derek Fisher] told me that Tim's defense was actually improving, so I didn't harp too much on that."

Hardaway seemed to take the comments to heart, Jackson says, and vowed to work on his flaws."

And now that Hardaway, Jr. is with Mike Budenholzer – a man known to help develop players' skills and attributes, things may start to look up to Hardaway's future within the club.