The Golden State Warriors are relying on a mix of contributions from their older and younger players going into the upcoming season. It will take some time to sort out who is part of the mix and who will be limited to mop-up duties, but second-year player Will Richard may face an uphill battle to legitimate playing time.
The University of Florida product impressed at times during his rookie season, but his numbers fell off as the year went on and he came back down to earth following a really hot start. It was not surprising to see his three-point percentage drop as the season went on, but the Warriors are going to need him to make a lot of three pointers.
Richard shot 33.5% from beyond the arc which isn't awful by any stretch, but as Warriors commentator Sam Esfandiari and reporter Tim Kawakami pointed out on social media, he's going to need to get that number closer to 40% if he wants to be on the floor more consistently.
Yup. 40% shooting from 3 or provide lockdown defense on wings. And that sure didn't happen last season for Richard.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) October 7, 2026
If you're not going to do either of those things, you've got to be able to dribble and make plays. https://t.co/DanRRX4QMX
This doesn't mean that Richard will be relegated to bench duties entirely. He did enough last season, has enough physical gifts, and showed a lot of hustle as a rookie that head coach Steve Kerr and his staff are definitely going to want to see more of going forward. But the Warriors are a team that relies on three-point shooting. They always have under Kerr and will arguably rely even more on threes with this new "five-out" offense in which everyone is expected to be a scoring threat from the perimeter.
Warriors' age issue could force Will Richard into a bigger role
Of course, the elephant in the room is that young players like Richard may end up being forced to play a lot this upcoming season if some of the veterans get injured. No one wants to think that way, but it's simply a reality that the Warriors aren't going to have all of their vets available all the time this season as they'll either have to be rested or will deal with injury.
That could mean Richard gets more time on the floor than he otherwise would have which could prove a good thing. More experience for the younger guys is not a bad thing, especially when the team doesn't have championship expectations which makes it a perfect year for development.
Still, if Richard wants a larger role going forward, he's going to have to knock down more threes otherwise his minutes may be somewhat limited.
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