Report: Heat to sign Josh Richardson to four-year, $42M extension

The Miami Heat are locking down a big part of their young core, signing Josh Richardson to a four-year, $42 million deal.

The Miami Heat continue to build for their future after losing LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in consecutive summers.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, they will be signing one of their key young pieces for a four-year extension. Josh Richardson will stay with the Heat for another four years, for $42 million.

Richardson, 23, has spent his first two seasons in the NBA with the Heat. In his first year, he played in 52 games, starting in two of those. He averaged 6.6 points per game in that first season. In Year 2, Richardson appeared in 53 games, but started in 34 of those. He upped his scoring average to 10.2 points per game, but his shooting numbers did dip a little.

The Heat guard has become a key part of Erik Spoelstra’s rotation, averaging 30.5 minutes per game this past season.

Looking ahead to next season, the Heat will be bringing back Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside. Adding to that core, they’ll have Josh Richardson and hopefully Justise Winslow back from his injury.

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The Heat were also trying to add buyout candidate Dwyane Wade, but only if he was willing to come off of the bench. Richardson could find himself a starting role with the Heat next year, especially with Winslow slow returning from injury.

Spoelstra and Miami could go small and start Dragic, Waiters and Richardson. They have expectations to make the playoffs for the first time since the departure of LeBron James in 2014. There’s a strong chance that happens in the extremely weak Eastern Conference.

The long-term signing of Richardson only confirms the youth movement for the Heat. They have a young roster and a young coach and will look to compete in the years to come.