Player Facts
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 200lbs.
Wingspan: 6'10"
Date of Birth: Sep. 15, 1993
College Experience: Tennessee (4 years)
Selections
All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0
Player Grades
Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 6
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 8
Paint Scoring: 6
Midrange Scoring: 7
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 6
Perimeter Defense: 7
Interior Defense: 4
Rebounding: 4
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STRENGTHS
Intro
Josh Richardson is a scrappy, hard-playing 2/3 out of the University of Tennessee. He's a perimeter pest at a wiry 6'5" with a 6-foot-10 wingspan. Offensively, he sprinkles in some on-ball flare and creativity to his game beyond strictly being a typical "3-and-D" player.
Versatile Cog
Josh brings some workable on-ball scoring to his squad. Best cast as a fourth fiddle on offense, Richardson is a versatile cog. He's shown he can carry both a heavier offensive burden (Miami) and still excel with a lighter one (Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, San Antonio, New Orleans).
Modest Shot Creation
The shot creation he brings comes out of both pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs. The 6'5" guard can capably end these sequences with a shot at any of the three scoring levels. His favorite location for self-created shots is probably the midrange.
He burns sagged big men with pull-up midrangers. His size helps out here as does his length as it pertains to his release point. Josh will also snake it into the middle for push shots and floaters.
An alternative means for JRich to get into the midrange is via closeout-attacks. He stays unpredictable by folding in both pull-up jumpers inside the arc and forays to the hole after his man flies by. From 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, he shot a combined 245 of 566 (43.3%) on midrangers. 2021-2022 had him improve to a hair under 45% accuracy here still on solid volume.
Overall, he is a patient guy initiating the screen-and-roll. The same applies as he attacks downhill out of DHO's. Josh does not discriminate between three-point land, the midrange, and the paint but rather takes what is readily available.
Playmaking
His playmaking within his two-man actions is also above-average. Josh has a reasonably deep passing toolkit given that he's a non-point guard. He even played some lead guard for bursts in 2018-2019, notching 4.1 dimes a night. He continues to post comfortably positive assist-to-turnover ratios year in and year out.
He also makes all the right plays within the flow of the offense. Josh makes the extra pass more often than not. Just like he's an adept team defender, he is also a skillful connective member of the five-man offense.
Athletic Finishing
Josh's interior finishing is simplistic but it works for him. He looks to extend out with his length to finish around people.
He managed to nail above 60% of his charge circle looks in 2019-2020. Like-sized guys such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Malcolm Brogdon were not able to eclipse 60%. 2021-2022 had him just shy of that 60% conversion rate benchmark.
The Tennessee product adds value to his finishing by being fearless against size. His athleticism allows him to finish over top sometimes but regardless he doesn't back down from contact. This yields some free throw attempts for him, and he's accurate at the stripe.
Moving Without the Ball
Weakside cutting is arguably the most valuable component of his off-ball game. The slash-first Josh can use that quickness and finishing ability via these punctual basket cuts. 2018-2019 saw him land in the 69th percentile scoring off cuts.
J-Rich has worked diligently to improve his accuracy from distance to help elevate his off-ball CV. 2021-2022 had him clearing 41% on his catch-and-shoot opportunites from downtown. He is now a player defenses must stay mindful of even when the basketball is with someone else.
Screen Circumventer
Josh Richardson is an adroit screen navigator. His formidable point-of-attack defense entrusts coaches to stick him on heavy ball-screen users. This is part of the reason why he spends a lot of time checking opposing point guards.
With deft footwork, lateral mobility, and general quickness, Josh contorts around opposing bigs. He offers premium, largely foul-free, rear-view contests on his overs. JRich is a highly fluid athlete.
He was in at least the 56th percentile guarding pick-and-roll ball-handlers from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020.
This part of his game has slipped by these same advanced metrics however they must be contextualzied within the broader setting of him being in some excpitonally weak team defensive environments. Still, the persistently big volume of these sequences defended helps show how much coaches trust him
DHO, Iso & Transition Defense
JRich continues to be a point-of-attack hawk against DHO's. He works hard to get a foot and arm between opposing men. His 1.5 handoffs defended per night were tied with Royce O'Neale and CJ McCollum for the most in 2019-2020. 1.0/night was his frequency as a Spur in 2021-2022.
Stopping guys one-on-one is a consistently doable thing for the 6'5" Josh. Defending three positions well, Richardson was in the 75th percentile guarding isolations in 2018-2019. That year and the next, he spent over two-thirds of his time contending with guards.
His transition defense is also noteworthy. Richardson's compete level can rarely be questioned, and he plays with a high motor on defense especially. These energy-based attributes help Josh make a difference on fast breaks.
Making Defensive Plays
Josh can even be a disruptive force on the defensive end. His length and scrappiness result in some diversified playmaking on this end. In 2019-2020 he was in a relatively small group that averaged 2+ deflections, 1+ loose balls recovered, and 0.5+ blocks. More recently, his 2021-2022 2.4 deflections per-36 was in line with Scottie Barnes and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
WEAKNESSES
Offensive Streakiness
Not only can his perimeter shooting be streaky, but his overall offensive production is. He doesn't always bring his scoring numbers night in and night out.
He tends to have a two-point percentage below 50%. Rarely the first option, he can afford to be more selective with his shot attempts. Instead, a midrange and floater-heavy two-point scoring style lead to these mediocre clips.
Rebounding & Defensive Nitpicks
Rebounding is definitely not a strength of Richardson's. He has the size, length, and bounce to make a difference on the boards. However, he has yet to average even 4.5 total rebounds per-36 minutes for a season.
The defensive weak points for Josh are not overly potent. One qualm with him is his vulnerability to some backdoor cutters. Aside from that, he could add value to his backline defense by stepping in for some more charges (only 1 in 2019-2020).
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Players Appearing Here – Check Out Their Profiles
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