Boston Celtics: 2 former C’s who could explode with new teams in 2022-23

Former Boston Celtics player No. 1) Josh Richardson

Considering how many months have passed, it may be hard to remember that Josh Richardson not only was a player who saw ample playing time within rookie head coach, Ime Udoka’s rotation, but he was also a major contributor during Boston’s historic midseason turnaround.

During his near four-month stay with the club, the veteran wing started to show his true colors as an incredibly efficient 3-and-D defender after two somewhat underwhelming seasons serving as a full-time starter with the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks, respectively.

By the time of his departure, he found himself boasting impressive averages of 14.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and just shy of a block per 75 possessions whilst shooting 44 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep and, during the final few outings of his tenure, he averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 boards, and nearly a block on 47 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from deep in an eight-game stretch between January 25th to February 8th.

They would go on to win all but one of these aforementioned games, showing the early stages of their turnaround, and Richardson wound up having a significant impact on each one of their victories, even singlehandedly leading Boston to a major win over the Charlotte Hornets, where he dropped 23 points on 75 percent shooting from distance.

Of course, Stevens opted to avoid the dreaded luxury tax and, in the end, decided to ship JRich out at the deadline, where he went to the playoff-hopeful San Antonio Spurs.

At first, the wing was a bit quiet to start off his time with the Spurs, posting seven points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 36 percent shooting from the floor during his initial nine games played.

However, as time progressed and he got more familiar with the system and his role, Richardson went on to make his presence felt in the Lone Star State, putting up 14.7 points, three boards, 2.7 assists, and 1.4 steals on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 45 percent shooting from deep during his final 12 regular season games played.

Now, with familiarity of the Popovich system in tow, we see the highly talented 28-year-old coming into a season serving as arguably the top dog on campus after star, Dejounte Murray, was traded to Atlanta this offseason with no true leader coming back in to take his place.

Considering San Antonio is obviously embarking on a full-fledged, youth movement rebuild it would be in their best interest to have Josh Richardson receive all the opportunities in the world to have a monster season, for then, should he perform admirably, his stock can only go up and, by the time the trade deadline hits, they could wind up cashing in with a title-contending team looking to bolster their rotation.

We’ve already seen him average 16.6 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and half a block per game during the last time that he served as a go-to option for a full year.

Perhaps he’ll be able to do it again this season.