Except we also have Langford and Nesmith, and those guys need minutes at the two spot too.
The current situation without Shroder already creates a minutes crunch. It is just plain stupid not to play Langford, Nesmith and Pritchard regular, significant minutes, and if you play someone like Richardson or Shroder instead, that's just not intelligent roster management. They may be a little better in the short term, but they aren't getting you anywhere.
With where Tatum and Brown are at as players, I can't see passing on useful veterans in order to guarantee Langford 20 minutes a night he wouldn't otherwise earn.
I guess you can just assert without argument that these veterans are "useful" and that Langford wouldn't "earn" his minutes. Langford and Nesmith are both 21. They have both shown significant promise but need minutes.
They both have the potential to be better than Richardson ever was. They might not be. But it is stupid to not provide the resources to find out. No NBA team can afford to toss aside two consecutive #14 choices because they feel compelled to play vets they find on the trash heap instead.
In the NBA, there isn't some high school like practice regime where someone can earn minutes behind the scenes. Game minutes are the only way players develop. Richardson is fully baked, a borderline starter or rotation player. If Langford and or Nesmith develop to their full potential, that could completely change the team's future.
What if Nesmith became an 18 ppg scorer who shot 3's over 40%? Is that so crazy? He's already looking like he'll be a plus defender. That would change the team. I want to find out. I don't need to know that Richardson can score 13 ppg and shoot 36% from 3. I know that is who he is.
We need to develop talent. We can't just swap for it and expect to make the finals.