As the Golden State Warriors have already run into struggles navigating the age of and certain mismatches within their rotation, a shining bright spot has been the performance of second-round pick Will Richard, who has provided a much-needed 3-and-D skillset to the team in just his short time in the league.
This level of performance led head coach Steve Kerr to elevate Richard to the team's starting lineup in Wednesday's victory over the San Antonio Spurs, and, on the following day's episode of The Athletic's NBA Daily podcast, Warriors writer Zena Keita made a strong case for why Richard should stay in the starting lineup from now on.
"Will Richard, even though he literally attempted two shots last night... the thing that he does is move, and that helps spacing too."Zena Keita
Although fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga looked electric to start the season, the one thing that Golden State needs desperately to get Stephen Curry going is spacing, and Richard, insofar as he provides that, should be the best option moving forward for the team.
Will Richard's skill-set matches exactly what the Warriors need to complement their veteran core
When the Warriors moved down in the draft, swapping their 41st overall pick for the 52nd and 59th overall, many had doubts as to whether the team would be able to select a player who could make an immediate impact on the rotation: something that the team stood to benefit immensely from given the age and price of their roster.
Yet, nobody expected Richard, who came into the draft as an older college player, to make the kind of splash he has so quickly into his career. Through his first 11 games, Richard has averaged 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 44.1% from 3-point range.
Moreover, in the two games he's started, Richard has shot an absurd 60% from beyond the arc.
It is, at best, concerning that Golden State is already dealing with many of the same Kuminga issues they dealt with last season. A large part of the reason that Kuminga was cut out of the rotation last season was because of the lack of spacing that he presented alongside Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.
Richard, meanwhile, enabled Curry to have his best performance this season, as he posted 46 points and shot 52% from the field against San Antonio. Having Richard on the floor gives opposing defenses another perimeter shooter to worry about, freeing Curry up to shake his man and get into his catch-and-shoot rhythm.
Therefore, until something changes, it is only natural to think that Richard should stay in the Warriors' starting lineup.