After being taken 56th overall in last year's NBA Draft, Will Richard has already proven a major steal for the Golden State Warriors during what's been an impressive rookie season.
Yet becoming a far more consistent 3-point shooter is the one move that will make Richard and even bigger steal, and will ultimately lead him to being a valuable and reliable rotation player in the league for the next decade or longer.
Will Richard needs to find a consistent jump-shot
With strong hustle, good hands defensively and a general knack for being in the right spot within Steve Kerr's system, Richard has been able to make an impact without generating much consistency as a shooter from beyond the arc.
That was evident again on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks, with Richard seeing extended minutes off the bench before getting the start in the second-half after Quinten Post exited due to injury.
Richard was 4-of-7 from the floor, for nine points on Saturday, but all of his misses were from 3-point range as Golden State suffered another blowout loss, falling to their 16th defeat in the past 22 games after suffering a 126-110 beatdown.
Much like a number of the Warriors' role players, Richard is a capable 3-point shooter but often a feast or famine one that lacks reliability. The 23-year-old is down to being a sub 33% 3-point shooter in his rookie year, which may have forced him out of the rotation had Golden State actually been healthy over the final months of the season.
At 6'3" and without being much of a ball-handler or playmaker, Richard is going to find it difficult to become a long-term NBA player if he can't be at least a league average (35-37%) shooter from beyond the arc.
College numbers provide some reason for optimism
Richard was a 35.9% 3-point shooter in his final collegiate year at Florida last season, while also being at 39.8% during his second year in 2022-23. That provides some reason for optimism that with further NBA experience, the shooting can become a solid part of his game -- even if it's never his biggest strength.
The other reason for optimism is that he's been an 85.2% free-throw shooter during this rookie season, ranked third behind Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler among Golden State players to have taken at least 50 free-throw attempts.
On a valuable four-year, $8.7 million contract, Richard has some time on his side. The Warriors as a team don't though, meaning improvement in his 3-point shooting will be crucial to carving out a rotation role in year two.