Richardson evolves into rising NBA star
Forward now seen as part of Heat’s future — unless he’s traded for Butler.
In first full year as starting small forward last season, Josh Richardson emerged as legitimate future piece for the Heat.
BOCA RATON — Things were never going to be easy for Josh Richardson.
The 40th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Richardson wasn’t expected to do much as a second-round pick on a veteran Miami Heat team.
“I barely knew who he was,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday from the Heat’s training camp at Florida Atlantic.
Few did. Spoelstra said he had zero expectations for Richardson, an All-SEC selection his senior season at Tennessee, when he first arrived in Miami three years ago. It took a strong recommendation from veteran Heat scout and then-vice president of player personnel Chet Kammerer for
Spoelstra to truly give Richardson a chance.
That chance paid off, as Richardson has gone from an occasional bench warmer and D-League player to one of the NBA’s rising stars.
“Chet’s rarely wrong,” Spoelstra said.
In his first full year as Miami’s starting small forward last season, Richardson emerged as a legitimate future piece for the Heat. Richardson averaged a career-high 12.9 points on 45 percent shooting from the field, adding 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals.
Not bad for someone who has gotten used to proving people wrong.
“Pretty much every level I played at, I kind of came in with no expectations,” Richardson said. “And I’ve kind of exceeded them.”
The expectations weren’t even there when Richardson first arrived at Tennessee in 2011.
“I came to college and my coach was like, ‘I’m gonna be real with you. You’re not gonna play until you play defense,’ “Richardson recalled. “Because I wasn’t a great scorer when I got to college so I knew I had to start wanting to play defense.”
How d id Richardson take that large of a jump on defense?
“I don’t know,” Richardson shrugged, drawing a laugh from teammate Bam Adebayo. “I just started trying.”
Trying worked out well; Richardson became a twotime All-SEC Defensive Team selection. It was that defen- sive prowess that earned him an opportunity withthe Heat, who were in the final year of the Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade era.
Playing with two future Hall of Famers presented opportunities for Richardson to learn from the best.
“I was starstruck a couple times,” Richardson said. “(I learned) just how to really carry yourself in the league, how nottoget too up or too down. Bosh taught me that, how to keep the right temperament and things.”
Richardson played 52 games as a rookie, averag- ing 6.6 points and earning NBA Rookie of the Month for his play in March, just two months after his final game in the D-League. A partially torn MCL kept Richardson out for the beginning of his second season, though he improved on his numbers and started 34 of his 53 games.
Then, everything changed. Richardson signed a fouryear, $42 million contract extension and started all 81 of his games at small forward. Known more for his defense, Richardson’s offense took a tremendous jump forward as the Heat advanced to the playoffs.
Spoelstra said Richardson was quietly one of the team’s best offensive players.
“Not only shooting the ball with confidence but mak- ing plays for our basketball team,” Spoelstra said. “He’s starting to realize there’s more available for him.”
Richardson averaged 8.4 points in the Heat’s firstround playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers this spring, including a 14-point, five-rebound, three-block performance in a Game 2 win.
Spoelstra also made it clear he thought Richardson should have been named to the All-Defensive Team last season.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside walked a similar path, getting drafted 33rd overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2010 before bouncing around in the D-League and overseas until he signed with the Heat in November 2014. Whiteside has proudly watched Richardson’s growth over the past few years.
“I love it,” Whiteside said. “He comes in every day (and) he’s motivated. I love J-Rich.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves seem to also love Richardson, as they’ve been rumored to want the fourthyear forward in return for four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler. Miami is one of three teams Butler wants to play for, along with the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers.
Richardson isn’t paying any attention to the outside noise.
“We just try to keep everything in-house,” Richardson said. “We’ve never been the group of guys to worry about what other people are saying too much.”