Josh Richardson was a wild card coming into the season. His past performance suggested a lot of possibilities, but also a clear downward trend.
After hitting 37.8% of his 3-pointers in Miami during the 2017-18 season, his percentages dropped to 35.7, 34.1, and 33 before arriving in Boston. Both Philadelphia and Dallas thought he could help shore up some defense without sacrificing too much offensively, but those drops to barely average 3-point shooting weren’t what they envisioned.
This is what made Richardson available as, essentially, a salary dump. Boston presented an opportunity to rebuild his game and his value, albeit in a different role.
“This is the first time in his career he's come off the bench only,” Ime Udoka recently said. Udoka was on the Sixers staff for Richardson’s lone season there. “We're asking him to do more and he's been a really steadying factor for us, solid veteran overall, but his comfort level is different. I think when he's playing with certain guys and not with the starting unit, he's getting more touches and being able to impact the game in more ways.”
The new role has suited him well. It’s not too common for long-time starters to simply be cool coming off the bench, but Richardson’s embracing of the role has been part of his resurgence.
“It’s been good for me, being able to talk to the starters, get the young guys engaged, I get to feel the game out a little differently than I have before,” he said. “And then keep the bench in tune to the game, because we have a lot of young guys on the bench. Being that veteran presence for them has been good for me, and yeah, just kind of settling everybody.”
With the Celtics stuck swirling in mediocrity, it would be easy for guys on the bench to get aggravated with their roles. When things aren’t working, guys who aren’t getting a lot of playing time can easily start griping. Richardson has not only accepted his current role, he’s accepted being one of the team’s vocal leaders.
“You can never have too many leaders on a team,” he said. “Especially with different groups, when I'm in there with the young guys, I'm going to naturally have to step in and be the vocal guy. And then down the stretch or like when we have tough stretches in games, sometimes different people stepping up gives different reactions from players. So just being able to work differently.”
Richardson’s second-unit minutes have allowed him to get into a flow that has propelled his offense into the “high reward” category of this low-risk signing. He’s shooting 40.7% from deep this year, which is second only to his rookie year when he shot 46.1% on only 115 total attempts (he’s already up to 118 this year). His true shooting percentage (which factors in 3-pointers and free throws as well as 2-pointers) is at a career-best 57.1%. The efficiency allows him to make a scoring impact while averaging less than 26 minutes per game.
“I came in pretty open minded,” he said. “Brad (Stevens) and Ime told me before what it was going to be. So I was prepared for that. Kind of makes it a little easier on me honestly, just being able to take my time getting into the game, being able to bring energy has been good.”
Richardson’s offensive impact has been noticeable. He’s even been called on to run some point for the C’s when they’ve been undermanned at that position. His size allows for some different lineup options -- that is whenever the Celtics are fully healthy -- to take advantage of his defensive abilities while still running a competent offense.
The problem is that the Celtics have rarely been healthy, and the cohesion necessary to actually run the competent offense has been lacking. There have been glimpses here and there, but nothing that has lasted long enough to say “a ha! This is the answer!”
All of which makes Richardson both a valuable piece to Boston’s evolving puzzle, and attractive trade bait. Richardson makes $11.6 million this year and $12.4 million next season. That's a very valuable contract for Richardson’s current level of production. It’s the kind of deal teams want to keep because they don’t kill the cap sheet, but also can use in deals to both aggregate salaries and add value to a trade package.
Richardson is aware of his situation, and he hears his name mentioned like this plenty.
“I’ve been traded a few times, so you just kind of learn how to live with it at that point,” he said. “It might be scary for some guys who have never been through it, but for us veterans who have been moved we know it’s a business and just try to keep the other guys engaged on what’s important and that’s winning games.”
Boston hasn’t won as many games as they should have so far. Both he and the team have room for improvement, but it is reasonable to expect Richardson to be part of the formula for a turnaround.
“Just hopefully showing more consistency,” Richardson said. “Hopefully being able to be healthy in the second half of the season more, being more available. And just still working on being a leader on this team; being vocal, not shying away from when things need to be said. I think that’ll be a good step for me.”