Post by Majic on Aug 30, 2021 12:33:54 GMT -5
Josh Richardson
SG
6-6
200
22
Tennessee
A rare 4 year college player enters the league to much intrigue from scouts. Richardson was an unheralded recruit who only finally earned some big time offers his senior year. Playing in 136 games in his college career, Richardson developed more and more each year before having a standout senior year where he was named First Team All SEC and was named to the Defensive All-American team.
Given his senior year awards it's easy to predict where Richardson will have an immediate impact, and that's on the defensive end. He does a great job to pair his great quickness and long length (6’10 wingspan!!) to lock down opposing players. He averaged an insane 2.1 steals per game his senior year and also pitched in a .5 blocks per game (the length!!) and this skill set should translate well. He could be one of the better defenders in the league from his first game.
Richardson is also a great distributor of the ball as well and always looks to get his teammates involved. He grew up playing Point Guard all throughout high school before making the switch to shooting guard, however he became the Volunteers main ball handler his senior year and didn't look out of place. He can be a terror for teams while in transition.
Richardson has a good shooting stroke, although he won't get to the line very often, shooting almost 80% his last 2 college seasons. Scouts are interested to see how his jumper translates to the much further distances of the NBA 3-point line, as this will likely be one of the biggest keys to whether he becomes an offensive asset. His 3 point percentage improved drastically his Senior year, so scouts aren't sure if that was a fluke or something more sustainable.
Richardson will need to work on his strength and ability to withstand contact. His tremendous length is offset by the need for him to gain more strength and size., which is not ideal for his position. His lack of strength limits his effectiveness when driving the lane as stronger, bigger, players are able to stop him. In addition, it impacts his ability to rebound as well where he will be an average rebounder at best.
Thankfully, Richardson was a “younger” senior and will enter the league having just turned 22. This could be viewed as a positive as some scouts think he has a little room to grow, although others disagree. Richardson should be a rotational piece right away simply because of his defense but his overall impact will be determined by how much stronger he can get.