Boston Celtics: Brian Robb sees Josh Richardson trade down the line

If you read Hardwood Houdini with any sort of frequency, you’ll know where we stand on the idea of the Boston Celtics trading Josh Richardson.

I’ve put together a few mock trade pieces playing the role of Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens where I send the package of Richardson and Juan Hernangomez away, often returning a proper starting-caliber point guard.

Well, the idea of sending Richardson–who has yet to find any solid footing in the rotation and may ultimately just be a roadblock to Aaron Nesmith’s and Romeo Langford’s development–is not one exclusive to this site.

Brian Robb of MassLive sees that being the future for the Cs-Richardson experiment and revealed as much during his Boston Celtics Mailbag in answering a fan’s question about why he is even on the team to begin with:

"Why is Josh Richardson on this team? — John S-BBecause he only cost the Celtics a fourth-string center in Moses Brown. The Celtics were going to lose the rest of the Gordon Hayward trade exception this summer regardless so he provides some added depth that this group desperately needs, along with some salary filler via trade down the line. His one-year extension was given this offseason for that reason in my mind."

Richardson was acquired for cheap, but he could be coupled with draft capital to acquire an upgrade at the trade deadline or in the summer of 2022. 

Just where that upgrade would be is as of yet unclear. There is a void at center behind Robert Williams and Al Horford that can be filled, while the floor general spot could use a pure passer at the position as previously pondered.

Either way, it’s clear that Richardson’s time in green is more than likely transitional, barring something drastic happening over the next few months.