National Basketball Association

Take Your Best Shot: Malachi Richardson

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

This article takes a look at the offensive game of Malachi Richardson to find his best shot against NBA defenders. This is the next installment in our Take Your Best Shot series.

The Sacramento Kings traded Marco Belinelli to the Charlotte Hornets for the 22nd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. That picked turned into a 6’6 shooting guard out of Syracuse named Malachi Richardson. My colleague Michael Aloysius O’Reilly wrote a great article about Richardson’s game and his swagger recently. It is definitely worth the read. Now let us examine Richardson’s college stats to see where his best shot comes from.

Richardson’s Best Shot

Malachi Richardson can knock down a triple. The Kings struggle hitting 3-pointers and Richardson can help cover up that deficiency. He shot 35.3% from distance on 224 attempts last season for Syracuse, according to Sports Reference. Below is a highlight video where he clearly displays NBA range on some of his 3 point attempts.

According to Draft Express, Richardson’s on-court strengths include both catch and shoot and creating his own offense. That would make for a dynamic offensive player if he can translate both to the NBA court. I personally like the looks of his jump shot and his ability to hit shots while being closely guarded. This could be a fun player to watch regardless of rooting interest if he can play like he did in college at the next level.

Summary

The Kings drafted Malachi Richardson because they needed a young wing that could knock down a 3 point shot. That is clearly Richardson’s best shot at this time and I expect him to struggle with his field goal percentage early in his career, but still knock down 3’s at a 33 to 35 percent clip. He has the ability to grow into a dominant offensive player, but only time will tell if that comes to fruition. Enjoy watching Richardson light up the lamp from distance this season for the Kings. He is sure to produce a highlight or ten with his shooting ability.