The Golden State Warriors have been absolutely floored by the play of Will Richard through the first 15 games of the season. The rookie guard has been exceptional to the point of now earning a starting role, but his college stats show he may be over-performing when it comes to his shooting numbers.
Richard played four years of college ball, three of them at the University of Florida which culminated in a national championship in his senior year. He gained a lot of experience there which has clearly transferred almost seamlessly to the NBA.
Will Richard's elite shooting numbers may be a false promise
Richard is currently shooting 40.9% from three-point range with the Warriors, with that coming after a collegiate career where he shot 35.5% from beyond the arc across his four years.
The pessimist would say that maybe Richard's shooting percentage from three will inevitably come back down to earth, but the optimist might say that Richard has improved this part of his game and can be a more reliable sharpshooter at the NBA level.
As harsh as it may sound, the pessimistic outlook may be the more likely outlook at this point since Richard is also shooting 56.6% from the field, well up from the 46.3% he shot during his college career.
Richard probably isn't going to shoot as well as he has to start this season throughout the rest of the 2025-26 campaign, but even if he does see a drop-off, he can still be a valuable player and there is still an argument to be made that he should be a regular starter going forward.
Even when Richard isn't making shots, he is making high IQ plays and is in the right place at the right time on the floor. He had five offensive rebounds on Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans, including one sequence in which he had two boards in quick succession which resulted in points, further proving how he is doing all of the little things right now even as a young player.
It's telling that head coach Steve Kerr has opted to start Richard ever since the team got embarrassed by the Oklahoma City Thunder, with subsequent comments following that game that seemed to question the potential personal agendas held by Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski.
Maybe Richard simply meshes better with the veteran starters on the floor and makes more sense with what the Warriors want to do offensively, particularly when 2x MVP Stephen Curry is out there running the show.
Even if he cools off a little bit, Richard still seems like the right guy to have out there if he keeps playing the way he has and brings his high IQ style of play every night.