San Antonio Spurs: 3 Potential Landing Spots for Josh Richardson

The San Antonio Spurs season hasn't brought us many surprises so far. After an encouraging start, the Spurs have been playing like the team we thought they were, settling into the bottom of the Western Conference and firmly in the hunt for the number one pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The only remaining surprise this season could throw at us would be the Spurs trading off more of their assets as they continue to stockpile picks to rebuild their team. They've been one of the more talked about teams in potential trade talks, with many of these hypothetical trades centered around Jakob Poeltl.

Poeltl has been linked to Dallas, Toronto, and Golden State, to name a few teams. While trading for Poeltl should certainly be an appealing possibility to contending teams, he's not the only guy on the Spurs who could help out a contending or fringe playoff team looking to lock in their position in the post-season. Josh Richardson has plenty to offer too.

The Spurs are asking for a first round pick

The Spurs asking price in any deal that sends out Richardson will be a first-round pick in return. That's been their starting point, and at this point, it doesn't seem like they're going to budge from that. And why should they?

J-Rich isn't the most attractive player on the trade block today but he's still a savvy veteran and a reliable shooter on an expiring deal. Not someone an up-and-coming team might want to lock into their rotation for the foreseeable future but definitely a guy who can help impart some wisdom on a young group looking for their first taste of postseason action or add a valuable spark off the bench for a contending team.

Here are a few teams the Spurs could be hearing from in the coming weeks as trade talks heat up around the league.

New York Knicks could benefit from Richardson's three-point shooting

Don't look now but here come the New York Knicks. Winners of their last eight, the Knicks have ridden a winning streak to surge back into the playoff hunt and now sit at 6th in the Eastern Conference. Their offseason acquisition of Jalen Brunson is proving to be a good investment as the New Brunswick, New Jersey native is enjoying a career year.

One thing still holding the Knicks back is their lack of three-point shooting. Well, to be more specific, their lack of accurate three-point shooting. They're 10th in the league in three-point attempts but 25th in three-point accuracy. That'll happen when you have Julius Randle jacking seven deep shots per game and making just 33 percent of them.

The Knicks don't necessarily have minutes to give Richardson, at least not yet. If they trade Cam Reddish, they could free up some run for Richardson. Reddish was rumored to have requested a trade from the Knicks, but the former Blue Devil has refuted those rumors in previous weeks.

Even if Reddish is in New York for the long run, the Knicks could still benefit from reducing his role and subbing Richardson in for some of those minutes. They could use the spacing and even though his three-point shooting has taken a step back from where he's been in years past, Richardson is still better than most of the shooters the Knicks have on their roster today.

As for the Spurs' asking price, the Knicks would have no problem meeting that request for a first-round pick. They've got several lined up for 2023 from Dallas, Detroit, and Washington. San Antonio would likely be happy to take any one of those, even if New York wants to put on top-ten protection or other condition.

Portland closes out wing rotation with addition of Josh Richardson

In signing Damian Lillard to another massive extension this summer, the Portland Trail Blazers should have firmly dispelled any remaining speculation that Lillard will begin and end his career in Rip City. This is the man the Blazers are building their franchise around, a modern star cut from the same cloth as Dirk, Kobe, and Tim Duncan. He is Portland, and the franchise's title hopes are tied to his tenure here.

That said - this hasn't prevented the Blazers from tinkering with the complimentary pieces they're surrounding Lillard with. Their confidence in Anfernee Simons motivated them to move on from CJ McCollum last year, a move that is proving to work out well for both Portland and New Orleans.

Still, the Blazers shouldn't settle for where they are now. The West is wide open, and they should consider re-tooling as much as they can to maximize their win-now window. He's only 32, which isn't out of his prime yet, but Dame doesn't have forever; if he wants to grab a ring, there's no time to wait.

Those ~21 minutes that the Blazers are giving to Keon Johnson and Jabari Walker would be a lot better spent on Josh Richardson. Playing Johnson & Walker would be fine if the Blazers viewed the two as foundational pieces of their future, but so far neither of the two show that level of promise.

The Blazers don't have other teams' first-round picks so spend like the Knicks but they do own each of their firsts for the next six years, any one of which could be flipped to San Antonio with top-ten or lottery protection for Richardson.

For Portland, passivity is death. Stop thinking about the 2027 draft class and focus on how to get Dame a ring. Shoring up the wing rotation with Josh Richardson fits that thinking and is something GM Joe Cronin should consider.

Bucks double down on pursuit of 3rd title with Richardson acquisition

The Milwaukee Bucks have been one of the most dominant teams in the league this season. They survived the absence of Khris Middleton for the first quarter of the season on the back of Giannis Anteokounmpo's dominance and some impressive contributions from role players such as Jevon Carter and rookie MarJon Beauchamp, but when you're chasing championships, it never hurts to have more.

To be very clear, the Bucks don't need to make any changes to their current roster to contend for a title. With Middleton back, Joe Ingles working his way back into the rotation, Jrue Holiday continuing his stellar play, and Giannis and Brook Lopez both contending for DPOY they have plenty to make a deep playoff run. But adding Richardson would be a good insurance policy.

The Bucks have the oldest roster in the NBA with an average age of 29 years. While Richardson certainly doesn't help that number, he does offer a younger set of legs than the 35-year-old Ingles, 36-year-old George Hill, or 36-year-old Wesley Matthews.

The actual mechanics of a deal between San Antonio and Milwaukee would be difficult, making this by far the least likely of these three proposed landing spots to come to life, but it's possible.

If the Bucks quickly find out that the Joe Ingles experiment isn't going to be as successful as they'd hoped and feel confident in the potential of Jevon Carter, they could package Ingles, George Hill, and a 2029 first-round pick for Richardson. Not an earth-shattering deal by any means but one that would give them another, younger set of legs for the playoffs and some improved three-point shooting to boot.