Josh Richardson helped deliver Jimmy Butler to Heat, now he’s seeking to share in that payoff
BOCA RATON — Since leaving the Miami Heat in 2019, arguably everything has changed for Josh Richardson, since that moment playing 60 games as a teammate of Luka Doncic, 43 alongside Joel Embiid, 41 alongside Tayson Tatum, 22 with Brandon Ingram.
And yet, with the Miami Heat opening training camp at Florida Atlantic University, a case could be made that little has changed for the versatile veteran swingman.
“I was looking for the DJ booth,” the ninth-year veteran said, adding that responsibility when last at a Heat training camp, also at FAU, in 2018. “I was about to DJ today. It’s the same gym. It’s literally the same everything.”
But also appreciably different, after wandering through the NBA diaspora of Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, San Antonio and New Orleans.
Of those Richardson left behind, only center Bam Adebayo remains, unless also including Wayne Ellington, who this month was named a Heat assistant coach.
“So the roles are a little different. UD’s not here,” Richardson said of retired captain Udonis Haslem. “The players are a little different. But at the end of the day, it’s the same.”
With the Heat losing Max Strus and Gabe Vincent in free agency, and with the team working with a somewhat bloated payroll, the goal in the offseason was to find plug-and-play talent on a value basis. Re-enter Richardson, 30, who signed a two-year deal with a player option for the second season, a contract that pays the NBA veteran minimum of $3 million this season.
“Not a lot has changed,” he said, with his seemingly ever-present smile. “I guess I’ve just matured a little bit. But me coming back, I’m pretty much the same.”
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When the Heat dealt Richardson in the 2019 offseason, it came with coach Erik Spoelstra insisting that a reunion was possible, if not inevitable.
When Spoelstra re-embraced Richardson this summer, it was with gratitude, in a form that only could be appreciated from an NBA perspective.
It was because of Richardson’s potential and productivity that the Heat in July 2019 were able to entice the 76ers into the sign-and-trade transaction that delivered Jimmy Butler to South Florida. At the time, the Heat lacked the salary-cap flexibility to directly sign away the player who since has helped lead the Heat to two NBA Finals.
“He was a big piece, obviously, to get the transformative piece for us,” Spoelstra said this week of Richardson. “You take that as an incredible compliment as a player. Sometimes it sucks in this business, to be involved in a move like that. But we invested so much in him, he had bought in so much in our culture and he grew so much from being a second-round pick that you’re not really sure is going to make it, to actually being a force defensively.
“In his last year, he even was our leading scorer and played a lot of different roles, the two, the three, point, all of those things. And he really grew in our player-development program. But I mentioned that guys like him probably don’t want to hear this now, but at some point, we’ll probably be calling you again, to bring you back. Just tuck that away right now. You’re a competitor, so right now that’s the last thing you want to hear, but he did remember that conversation. And we were fortunate enough to be able to bring him back.”
Based on the current composition of the Heat roster, the No. 40 selection out of Tennessee in 2015 could wind up as anything from the Heat’s starting shooting guard or starting point guard to sixth man or perimeter defensive specialist.
During his formative NBA years, Richardson was Rook 2, part of a dynamic Heat rookie one-two punch with Justise Winslow, the Heat’s first-round pick in 2015. Now, Richardson returns as valued component, with Winslow out of the league, an unsigned free agent.
“I didn’t have any expectations when I first got here,” Richardson said, sweat still dripping from practice. “I never had any, for real, until I signed my second contract. Then it was, ‘OK, you got it.’ But I’m blessed. A lot of players don’t make it to nine years, let alone second-round picks, so I’m blessed, for sure. I’ve been blessed to be able to average double figures every year I’ve been in the NBA.”
