Jason Richardson

Jason Richardson is entering his 13th season in the NBA and his second season with the 76ers. He sat out the 2013-14 season after surgery on his left knee. During the 2012-13 season, he averaged 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 1.7 three-pointers made in 28 minutes per game through 33 games played. He shot 40 percent from the field on 10.2 attempts per game, 61 percent from the free-throw line on 1.0 attempt per game, and 34 percent from three-point territory on 5.1 attempts per game. If healthy, Richardson might appear to be the frontrunner for the starting small forward position, but it's been a couple years since Richardson was fully healthy, and he last played an NBA game in January of 2013. In his prime, Richardson was a hyper-athletic former Slam Dunk champion who provided strong scoring, rebounding, and three-pointers. Now 33 years old, he has aged poorly, which is highlighted by his struggles to stay healthy, his deteriorating field goal percentage, and his deteriorating three-point shooting.

Richardson underwent knee surgery in February, and will likely miss the entire 2013-14 season. Despite this, he is under contract for one more year, and will remain on the roster unless he is bought out or traded.

After spending the first six years of his career with the Warriors, Richardson joins his fourth franchise in the last five years. The 31-year-old Michigan State alum is coming off his least productive season. He averaged just 11.6 points and 1.9 threes with the Magic. His minutes are unlikely to bump back into the 30s, so fantasy owners should go into the season with reduced expectations.

Richardson was traded to the Magic in December as part of the deal that sent Marcin Gortat and Vince Carter to the Suns. Although his minutes rose in Orlando, Richardson’s shot opportunities dipped considerably as the Magic’s primary strategy is to throw the ball into Dwight Howard and then kick it back out to any open perimeter shooter. That’s Richardson’s role with the Magic – a three-point shooter who will occasionally attack the basket when his defender over commits on the outside. Through 55 games with the Magic, Richardson averaged 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.3 three-pointers, 1.2 steals and 1.2 turnovers. Although he’s never been a huge thief on defense, it’s worth noting the potential of Richardson to collect more steals this season. After the All-Star break last season, he averaged 1.7 steals per game. Unfortunately, he was also inconsistent at the free-throw line last season, where he shot just 48 percent after the All-Star break.

Richardson represents an interesting case entering the 2009-10 season. Though it would be unwise to say that his first full year in Phoenix was a disappointment, it certainly represented for Richardson a change in roles. Consider: last year, Richardson averaged 15.7 points and 31.5 minutes per game. The former was the lowest for Richardson since the 15.6 he averaged in his 2002-03 season with the Warriors (only his second season in the NBA). As for the latter? Well, actually, it was the fewest minutes that Richardson has ever averaged on a per-game basis. Field goal and free throw attempts (12.6 and 2.3, respectively) were also at an all-time low for the former Michigan State standout. On the other hand, as happens to talented players who adopt smaller roles, Richardson's efficiency generally approved. After having never before posted a shooting percentage north of 45 percent, that's exactly what he's done in Phoenix, shooting 48.8 for 58 games in 2008-09 after coming over from Charlotte and, last season, shooting 47.4 with Phoenix. Also, during his time in Phoenix, Richardson has scored 13.4 points for every turnover – a rate that few NBA players can boast. On top of all this, what bears noting is Richardson's excellence in the playoffs, where, through 16 games, he averaged 19.8 points, 33.8 minutes, 13.9 shots, and a spectacular 3.0 three pointers per game, while shooting 50.2 percent. The question is whether that playoff run represents an increased role for Richardson, or if it's just the anomalous product of Phoenix's playoff push. The safe bet is on the former.

Coach Alvin Gentry will look for Richardson to pick up much of the slack left behind after the Suns dealt a rejuvenated Shaquille O’Neal away to the Cavaliers for the expiring contract of Ben Wallace. Richardson will have one of the best distributors in the game at his side in Steve Nash along with a workable nucleus of Amar'e Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and Earl Clark. Keep in mind Richardson is only 28 years old and still has a lot of run-'n'-gun left in him, evidenced by his across-the-board improvement during the second half of last season. During that final 30-game stretch when Gentry took over and reverted the team’s offensive style back to former head coach Mike D’Antoni’s “seven seconds or less” philosophy, Richardson put up top-35 numbers. The fact that most of that was done with Shaq under center instead of Amar’e shows how much upside Richardson has to put up big numbers this season.

Richardson had a career-year in his first season in Charlotte, approaching or setting new personal bests in points (21.8 ppg), both shooting percentages (44.1% FG, 75.2% FT), blocks (.6 bpg) and steals (.7 spg). Richardson was the unquestioned number one option on offense last season, and presumably he should maintain that status this season in the new offense implemented by coach Larry Brown. There’s enough supporting talent in Emeka Okafor, Gerald Wallace and Ray Felton to keep defenses honest and not allow them to key on Richardson. Richardson’s size and athleticism allow him to be a strong rebounder for a guard, and he’s improved his long-range shot so much that he led the NBA in threes made with 243. In recent years coach Brown has built offenses around perimeter scorers such as Allen Iverson, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, which bodes well for Richardson’s offensive output this season.

What a difference a year makes. Last season was a lost year for Richardson, as a combination of injuries and the emergence of Monta Ellis pushed him into an unfamiliar bench role and four-year lows in scoring and field-goal percentage. J-Rich should be primed for a major bounce-back year, as the primary scoring option on a raw but talented Bobcat squad – a new career-high in scoring shouldn’t surprise anyone. In the past Richardson has also used his superior athleticism and size to grab more than his share of boards – it’ll be interesting to see if that continues when he’s sharing the floor with elite rebounders like Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor.

Richardson continued his ascent up the fantasy lists last season, setting new career-highs in scoring (23.2 ppg), three-pointers made (2.4 threes per game, fourth in NBA), and field goal percentage (44.6%). Combined with solid peripheral numbers (5.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg, .5 bpg), Richardson’s scoring and long-range shooting have him right on the edge of the fantasy elite. At only 25 years old, the athletic ability that made the 6-6 high flyer a multiple-time slam-dunk champion should just be approaching its peak, suggesting that Richardson still has room to grow. And if he improves on his free throw shooting (67%), his only roto Achilles’ heel, Richardson could soon find himself among the leading scorers in the NBA.

Richardson had the best season of his career in ’04-’05, establishing new highs in points (21.7), assists (3.9), 3-pointers made (1.7), steals (1.5) and field goal percentage (44.6%). So Richardson is a young superstar on the way up, right? Well, not so fast. The ultra athletic two-time slam-dunk champion was the focal point of the offense for the majority of last season, but he shifted to a secondary role once the Warriors traded for Baron Davis. After averaging 24.7 ppg from December through February, once Davis came on board Richardson’s scoring dipped to 19.5 ppg in March and April. In fact, all of his numbers dropped across the board once Davis took over. There is good news, though. First of all, an offseason of working together could lead to better chemistry and thus better numbers for Richardson. Secondly, Davis’ injury-prone past suggests that Richardson will spend a good portion of next season as the number one option again, with all of the stats that come with that.

One of the most athletically gifted players in the league, Richardson has the ability to excel at almost any facet of the game on any given night - from his astounding rebounding ability from the guard position to his hot streaks from behind the arc. In his first few seasons in the NBA, however, Richardson has failed to put it all together with any consistency. But now that he has a couple seasons under his belt, Richardson should be ready to take the next step towards fantasy elite status this season. He doesn’t play a lot of defense, so there’s a chance he could lose minutes because of that. Still, he’s their number one option on offense and could be playing for big dollars in the summer if the team doesn’t extend his rookie contract. Expect an increase in points, threes, and steals and expect to grab him in either the fifth or sixth round of your league draft.

Richardson, the Warriors' starting two guard, became the team's scoring leader last year as Troy Murphy missed much of the season with a foot injury. He led the team in shots per game (16.5 FGA) and is expected to provide much of their scoring this year despite a career 42.5% field goal percentage. He's an excellent rebounder from the guard spot, but doesnn't hit the 3 (28.2% in 2003-04). As of this time, his contract has not been extended and the team may take their chances with him next summer as a restricted free agent. Especially if Mickael Pietrus shows improvement.