Why did we extend Josh Richardson?

[blink]

Not exactly sure why we extended him either, but I would think that he needs a bit of time to adjust.  He has been on the move a lot in the last couple of years.  Give him a few months to get adjusted and find his feet and his role here.  Since we don't judge the team after 4-5 games, we should probably not make a final call on J Rich for a while either.

[Vermont Green]

I was surprised by both the Smart and the Richardson extensions.  I think they are good deals, and will only look better over time.  I don't think either will be a problem.  They are both more than useful players and these are very fair and tradeable contracts.

As to Richardson, I was very pleased to get him.  For us, he will be a solid bench wing who has started 299 games in the NBA.  I expect more than what we have seen so far out of him but I feel he will come around pretty quickly.  New team, new role, I am not worried at this point.  Fournier came in, albeit mid-season, and he never really played well for us in 16 games plus playoffs.  Richardson was a starter his whole career, playing 30+ minutes.  Now he is coming off the bench and will probably play 18-24 minutes once he settles in.

For Smart and Richardson, and I include Schroder in this as well, I feel they are great trade chips.  We need a good PF.  If the right player becomes available, I could see one of these 3 going out to help make a trade work.

[Celtics4ever]

I think it is a contract that we hope to capitalize on during the trade deadline.

[Roy H.]

I think it is a contract that we hope to capitalize on during the trade deadline.

For this deadline, an expiring would have worked better.

For next summer, we’ve got a large trade exception to use in trade.

Most likely, Richardson becomes next year’s Thompson:  an expiring contact that is more of an anchor than an asset.

[Celtics2021]

I think it is a contract that we hope to capitalize on during the trade deadline.

For this deadline, an expiring would have worked better.

For next summer, we’ve got a large trade exception to use in trade.

Most likely, Richardson becomes next year’s Thompson:  an expiring contact that is more of an anchor than an asset.

For what it’s worth, we did receive a guaranteed pick for Thompson while shaving off $3 million in salary, so he wasn’t an anchor.  Not highly valuable, but still on the positive side of the ledger.

[RJ87]

He’s not getting a lot of opportunity, but he’s shooting 45%+ from both the field and 3pt thus far. Solid defender, can guard the 1-3 and is still only 28 years old. Why wouldn’t you extend him another year for $12m.

Because his play has declined four years in a row.  There’s no need to pay an above-MLE extension to a player that offers barely more than vet minimum production.

I think at this point, you have to wonder if he is declining or if this is who he is. Barring that one good season in Miami, he's been mediocre. Maybe that season was the outlier.

Kudos to him and his agent for cashing in on a fluke.

[nickagneta]

I'm willing to wait and see how he performs after the rotations smooth out and he gets used to his role and who he is playing with before judging this extension. I was very surprised by him receiving it and think it might be first time GM, Brad Stevens, first rather good sized mistake. But, if he is included in a trade that gets great value back to the C's, no biggie.

[footey]

I think Brad extended him with the support of Ime, in the belief that they would be able to resuscitate his career, and that his defensive acumen fit very well in what Ime (and Brad) seem most focused on as a team identity. 

That is their bet.

I think that bet was made as a hedge vs. the (lack of) development of Romeo and/or Nesmith this season. 

Early returns create second guessing by C fans.

I don't think Richardson minutes (15) are the impediment to Nesmith.  Ime seems to lack confidence in Nesmith thus far this season. If Romeo were healthy, I think he'd be getting the minutes, not Nesmith. 

Nesmith is struggling early this season. In fairness, Richardson, while not lighting the world on fire, has outplayed Nesmith so far.  I think Nesmith just needs to have a game where he lights it up, and that will get him going.  Let's be patient with him, and Ime.

Also, given that this is generally considered by most as a "transition year", it is best to have Richardson locked up for an extra season, under the theory that the following year is when we will be fully jelled and ready to go for it.

Based on last night's game, the major glitch to that line of thinking is not having Schroder under contract for 2 years.  I know he would not extend for another year and we don't hold bird rights to re-sign him without moving salary around.  But man, he could become a major part of the team this season. Would be a shame to watch him watch next year.

[jambr380]

I agree, dumb signing...and, frankly, dumb trade. I get that they wanted to utilize the Hayward TPE before it was too late, but we are now above the luxury tax with a pretty average team. Maybe we could have used Smart and Richardson before the Schroder signing that came out of nowhere, but we don't need both of them now.

Romeo and, to some extent, Nesmith, should be eating all of Richardson's minutes...which have been limited anyway. We can't even really hate on Richardson since he barely plays.

[Moranis]

Because I don't think the team is making any major moves this year, they wanted to have his contract available for a trade over the summer, when a major move will be more likely to happen. 

I do think it really is that simple.  They just wanted the trade ability over the summer. 

And it won't take much more than moving Hernangomez for no salary to get below the luxury tax.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Boston move him in a salary dump at some point this season, depending on how the season is going.  You know something like Hernangomez, Fernando, 1st round pick for a 2nd round pick.  Something like that.  Below the tax. 

[ETNCeltics]

We're passing judgment on him after 4 games?

[Roy H.]

We're passing judgment on him after 4 games?

The judgment is giving an extension to an unseen, declining player.

[nebist]

Ultimately, I don't think the Richardson extension will be harmful. He's a rotation player that can soak up minutes making slightly over the mid-level. He hasn't popped at all yet certainly, but he doesn't get hunted on defense, and I think he will prove to be at least capable on offense (defense can't totally ignore him).

However, his acquisition and contract is certainly intertwined with the decision to let Fournier walk. Personally, I would rather have Fournier on his contract than Richardson on his contract. I guess the question or debatable piece is which one is a better tradeable asset as a pure contract. Even though Fournier is better than Richardson, neither player is a difference-maker for an acquiring, rebuilding team. So, if we eventually use the Richardson contract as $-matching ballast as part of a larger trade at the deadline or next summer, one can argue that Richardson's smaller, shorter mid-sized contract will be easier to include in a deal like that than Fournier's larger, longer deal.

[Moranis]

We're passing judgment on him after 4 games?

The judgment is giving an extension to an unseen, declining player.

Is he really declining?  His TS% last year was the best it had been in 3 years.  TRB% and STL% best in 3 years.  TOV% lower than the prior year.  All of his WS numbers were better last year than the year before.  His total number of shots has been declining (and he certainly had the ball in his hand less on teams with Simmons and Doncic than prior seasons), but he is scoring roughly the same amount of points per shot.  You keep saying he is declining, but that isn't actually borne out of the numbers.  He has been a very similar player over the last 3 seasons and given he is just 28, there is no reason to think he won't continue producing at a similar level.

[Csfan1984]

Only guy I liked extending was TL as his contract has protections.

It's hard trusting young guys to develop but I feel you have to try.