Despite a slow start, Josh Richardson showed out late in the season

Offense

During his rookie year, we came to know Richardson as a lethal shooter who excelled from deep, shooting 46 percent from 3 including a blistering 53 percent after the All-Star break.

This season, Richardson and the coaching staff clearly sought out to expand his game particularly on the offensive end. With the absence of Dwyane Wade, that opportunity presented itself almost immediately.

When Richardson finally experienced good health and conditioning, he took a major step forward. In the last 13 games, not only did he lead the Heat in minutes but also in 3-pointers made. He was second to Tyler Johnson in 3-point percentage during that stretch.

In the month of April alone (six games), he returned to his rookie year closing mark of 53 percent from 3.

This was certainly a “show me” period for Richardson, as Erik Spoelstra put his sophomore guard on the floor when it really mattered and directly involved him in the offense, allowing for plays like the one below where Goran Dragic could work off the ball to get his shot with Richardson initiating.

Here’s another very confident move from Richardson as a ball-handler, showing patience as he gets two Hornets players to commit before flipping it over his head to a wide open Tyler Johnson.

This may look like an easy play, but Richardson has to have complete command and knowledge of what is going to happen on the floor to make this pass. If Whiteside whiffs on the screen, or Kemba Walker is able to get in the passing lane, it’s an easy basket for Charlotte. Richardson shows patience and maturity here as he waits for everything to develop before making a decision.

A variation of a similar look, this time Richardson gets all the way to the rim and, again, shows the patience of a veteran to find a wide open Willie Reed for a dunk.

This is a play that Richardson wasn’t making last year, as he was stuck in the role of a 3-point shooter. As the Heat move forward, they’ll look to Richardson and Tyler Johnson as anchors of the second unit, using their unique skill sets to give opposing defenses trouble.

When Richardson is shooting the ball with confidence as we saw down the stretch and making plays off the dribble, he becomes a dangerous scoring threat in the Heat’s offensive system.