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By all accounts, the Boston Celtics appear content with their acquisition of Josh Richardson — if not ecstatic. Head coach Ime Udoka has readily lauded the 27-year-old’s ball-handling skills and voiced his belief that Richardson is a better shooter than we’ve seen in recent years. On the heels of the guard’s new contract extension, president Brad Stevens told WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni and Fauria that he feels “really good” about where his team is at the moment. Then again, he also noted that while he thinks the Celtics “can be a good basketball team” that they “can also continue to build and hopefully get what we all want.”
One way of building would be via trade, and no player has been more readily linked to Boston in recent months than Jayson Tatum’s BFF, Bradley Beal. With a contract decision looming in Washington, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor can’t help but connect the financial dots between the recent slew of moves Stevens has made and the potential pending availability of Beal.
The Celtics ‘Still Want to Make a Big Move’
Appearing on “The Mismatch” podcast, O’Connor further fueled speculation of Beal teaming up with Tatum in Beantown by highlighting how perfectly the three-time All-Star’s max contract aligns with the deals of Richardson and big man Al Horford.
It’s hard not to look at some of the decisions that are being made by the Celtics and not think about the fact that they still want to make a big move.
And Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum, that relationship is very real. If Beal were want to leave Washington during the season or next offseason in a sign-and-trade, Al Horford plus Josh Richardson equals the new Bradley Beal max contract the following summer in a sign-and-trade. So for the Celtics, you’re getting quality players under contract who you might be perfectly happy keeping, it just so happens that you put these contracts together and they equal the salary of these star-level, max-contract players that you inevitably want to be in a position to target.
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Richardson Overview
Richardson, a six-year pro, inked a one-year extension earlier this week that will pay him $24 million over the next two seasons. The Tennessee product has seen a dip in production in recent years. With that said, his upside — for example, the effort he put forth in 2018 with the Heat (16.6 points and 4.1 assists per game) — makes his new deal a potential bargain for the Celtics.
“Getting Josh Richardson locked up for an extra season, if he can get back to the guy we last saw in Miami before he started changing teams and things fell off for him, then you’ve got a good player, a good two-way player on your roster,” O’Connor said.
Acquired in late July as part of a trade that shipped promising big Moses Brown to Dallas, Richardson is coming off a 2020-21 campaign with the Mavericks where he averaged 12.1 points and shot just 33.0% from beyond the arc — both marking his lowest output since 2016. Still, he’s a career 12.3 points per game scorer, who has averaged at least 10.2 points per game over the last five years and has flashed high-end traits as a wing defender.
“We feel fortunate to be able to extend Josh,” said Stevens, via the team’s official website. “He is a talented offensive player, a versatile defender, and plays with an edge and toughness that Boston fans will love.”
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