Maybe the FO "wont intervene further" was actually 100% truthful, since they had already given Hardy the directive and he will handle business for them. So no "phantom injuries" this year, but instead "try different lineups" and "add rookie minutes" whenever it looks like we are about to be competitive. And then pull guys when they get too hot, like we did with Sexton in the 1st and Hendricks after the 3rd.
Hardy is a product of Pops tree, so he knows this business.
I will add one thing to my list of (paranoid) concerns..... Lauri played over 36 minutes. That is the most minutes he has logged in a non-OT game since December 24th. If we presume Hardy is helping the tank, is he also under instructions to play Lauri big minutes? JC gets big minutes to build up counting stats for sure, but Lauri doesnt really stand a chance to enter All-NBA convo this year, so if the same thing happens with him then can we read into it?
Its just one game and it could be that Hardy doesnt like TH or Collins fit with Kessler (he seemed to play Lauri with Kessler almost every time, but also with the others), but I will definitely pay more attention to the minutes distribution.