Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson came into the league together as a budding wing tandem for the Miami Heat in 2015, and they developed a personal relationship over the course of four seasons in South Beach.
Naturally, Winslow was sad to see Richardson leave town as part of the sign-and-trade that brought Jimmy Butler to Miami. Winslow told Anthony Chang of the Miami Herald that he though he will miss playing alongside Richardson, he welcomes the ability to compete against him and likened Richardson's play style to Butler's:
▪ With the Heat trading Josh Richardson to the 76ers as part of the Butler deal this offseason, Winslow said of the departure of his close friend and fellow member of the Heat’s 2015 draft class: “Just the emotional standpoint, that’s someone I grew close to. So even more than just having him as a teammate, just having him around the city, being able to go to his house, go out to eat, having that just easy communication, I’ll always have by my side. As a competitor, it won’t be too hard. It’s part of the business, but the emotional part is a little hard, but we’ll be Rook 1 and Rook 2 forever.”
▪ As for the Heat’s addittion of Butler this offseason, Winslow said: : “It was interesting. I mean it all happened so fast, kind of happened out of the blue. I called J-Rich kind of right after it happened, just to talk to him. But it is a new dynamic. You know, him and J-Rich have a lot of similarities, actually. They’re both great two way players. So I think Jimmy should have a pretty smooth transition being able to fit in. I think we can use him in a lot of efficient ways.”
Winslow also told Chang that he still hopes to play more point guard for the Heat this season even though Miami retained veteran Goran Dragic this summer. The former Duke product averaged a career-high 4.3 assists last season, and figures to play a crucial role in Miami's quest to return to the playoffs.
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