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- CLUTCH Summary: Josh Richardson was traded to the Sixers in a deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Heat.
- Richardson is likely to bring some much needed shooting to the City of Brotherly Love.
- Outside of shooting, Josh Richardson is one of the better defenders in the league, allowing the Sixers flexibility with their rotations.
The Philadelphia 76ers went through a major roster shakeup this offseason. Jimmy Butler now plays in South Beach. J.J Reddick will be draining threes in the Big Easy alongside Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson.
So how did the Sixers make up for losing these two huge pieces? Besides re-signing Tobias Harris and acquiring Al Horford, the team got one player back from the Jimmy Butler trade that will need to have a huge impact for the Sixers to be successful this season: Josh Richardson.
Richardson is a four-year veteran who has shown improvement with each year in the league. As a rookie out of Tennessee who was picked in the second round, Richardson was never expected to be much more than a role player off the bench.
However, he has shown promise to surpass this prediction by miles. In his rookie season, he averaged 6.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. Three years later, he averaged 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists and became one of the best players on the Miami Heat.
So now that he is in Philly, how will the Sixers employ his services?
First of all, the team badly needs shooting. Losing Reddick hurts the teams range greatly. Ben Simmons has yet to make a three-pointer in the NBA. Joel Embiid shot a career-low 30 percent from range last season. Tobias Harris has yet to prove he is a knockdown shooter and shot only 32.9 percent from three as a Sixer.
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Richardson is a career 36.8 percent three-point shooter. However, many of those three-pointers came off the dribble in contested situations. Because Richardson became a focal point of the Heats offense, he never had many opportunities as a spot shooter. In Philly, this will be his main offensive role.
The ball will be in the hands of Simmons and Embiid for the majority of the team's sets. This gives Richardson the opportunity to spread the floor and set himself for an open shot when the inevitable double team comes to the two stars.
Asides for becoming a knockdown shooter, the Sixers will also need Richardson to keep up his stellar perimeter defense. The 6'6 forward was recognized twice in college for his defensive talent, getting a spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team twice, in 2014 and 2015.
While he has yet to make an NBA All-Defensive Team, the talent is there. He might not be a defender of Jimmy Butler's caliber, but Richardson is still brilliant on the defensive end. In the 2017-18 season, Richardson recorded 121 steals and 75 blocks. Interestingly enough, only two other players recorded at least 120 steals and 70 blocks that year, and one of them is Richardson's newest teammate, Ben Simmons.
Adding Richardson to the team gives the Sixers another perimeter threat and makes them one of the most terrifying teams in the league defensively, perhaps only second to the Los Angeles Clippers.
If Richardson can shoot around 38 percent from three this season and play the same defense he has played his whole career, the Sixers have a great shot of making a deeper playoff run than they did last year.
