Consistency is the game for Josh Richardson and the Miami Heat.
Josh Richardson spent the 2017-18 season as one of the Miami Heat’s most well-rounded players.
Though his defense was his most noted trait and should have earned him first All-Defensive selection, Richardson also demonstrated the ability to contribute steady offensive outings.
Increasing his scoring averages for the third consecutive year, Richardson was also Miami’s resident iron man. He played 81 contests, (reluctantly) missing just one game to a sore left foot, in a Heat season defined in part by the nightly injury list.
Richardson continues to up his offensive ante, though he’s yet to shed his game’s biggest drag: consistency.
Miami’s offensive struggles this season were at times personified by Richardson. Some games, they appear unstoppable, supernaturally routing teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers or Minnesota Timberwolves with ease.
But when the Heat fell back to earth, playing as mere mortals, they fell hard.
Richardson felt these slides as well – he came up scoreless just twice this season, but when he’d dip into single digits, he had to rely solely on his defense to support the team.
Heat president Pat Riley explained some of Richardson’s struggles this season which he partly blames on position.
"“Is Josh a small forward? Is he a two?” Riley told the Sun Sentinel. “I think he’s probably more of a two, but in today’s game and also how we play and the fact that we’re guard-oriented, perimeter-oriented in a lot of ways, Josh is pushed over to the three most of the time.”"
At 6-foot-6, sliding Richardson to shooting guard may seem like a move for appearances only. But, as Riley suggests, Richardson’s lack of primary ball-handling duties leaves him as an offensive beneficiary, never the primary donor.
With Richardson at small forward, Miami’s half-courts sets position him on the wing, including him in screens and setting him up for catch-and-shoot looks.
The problem?
Richardson isn’t Wayne Ellington.
Where some players, like Ellington, improve their offense rhythm without the dribble, Richardson performs best when he manages a few bounces. Richardson’s elastic frame gives him an advantage in using winding dribbles to evade coverage.
In March’s game with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Richardson’s four points were a product opportunities to get to the rim, reliant on his first quick step in transition or crafty dribbles through the lane. When he was forced to heave a jumper, Richardson’s offense was shut out.
According to NBA.com, Richardson shot over 50 percent from the floor when he was allowed between two and six dribbles. Unfortunately, 50 percent of his attempts last year came without a single dribble.
This leaves the Heat at a crossroads.
Richardson likely improves, at least offensively, with greater ball-handling. That opportunity however, compromises Miami’s backcourt structure which entrusts Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow with leading the offense. Dion Waiters return next season reintroduces another ball-dominant player, meaning Richardson slides even farther down the ball-handling totem pole.
If the shift to shooting guard doesn’t change Richardson’s offensive outlook, he has a plan of his own.
"“I wanted to put on some weight either way,” Richardson said. “I mean that position that he says doesn’t really completely change what I’m going to do. But bulking up and getting my handle better has been just like the biggest priority.”"
Added bulk to Richardson’s bones won’t necessarily improve his catch-and-shoot game, though it can benefit his game in those dastardly scoring droughts. Many of Richardson’s shooting struggles this season were mirrored by skeletal trips to the free throw line.
For Richardson, being able to absorb more contact on trips to the rim could improve the number of charity stripe visits. Either defenders have to foul a stronger Richardson at the rim, or he can finish through contact and pad his future highlight reels with and-ones in the paint.
Entering his extended, more lucrative contract next season, Richardson has the mold to give the Heat another capable scoring wing. With a bench press here and a few squats there, Richardson can move away from his stigma as a complementary player.
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You’re up next, Richardson.