Josh Richardson’s development raises the Heat’s ceiling

With the Miami Heat down one with less than eight seconds remaining in the game, Josh Richardson curled around a Kelly Olynyk screen at the top of the key, received the inbound pass from Goran Dragic, got the switch onto Derrick Favors and in two dribbles was finishing at the rim for a layup that won the game. The fact that Erik Spoelstra drew the final play up for him speaks to the leap Richardson has made this season. “He’s ready for the next jump, the jump is ready for him,” Spoelstra told the Palm Beach Post. “It’s now a matter of when.”

Right now, Richardson is the best player on a Heat team that sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Miami does not have a player on the roster who has ever made an All-Star team, but Richardson’s development could be what takes this team up a notch. For now, however, he’s earned the trust of his coach with his standout two-way play.

The Heat are 17-7 in crunch time — games decided by five points or less with five minutes remaining, as defined by the NBA — second only to Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics, and Richardson is a big part of that. For example, at the end of that win against the Jazz, Richardson blocked a shot by Ricky Rubio, scored over Rodney Hood, got an offensive rebound that led to a Tyler Johnson 3-pointer in transition, scored again on a dunk, forced a turnover by knocking the ball off of Donovan Mitchell, made the go-ahead layup and forced Mitchell into a difficult would-be-game-winner that missed. All in the last five minutes.

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Since Dec. 1, Richardson is scoring a team-high 16.9 points per game, shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 44.3 percent on 4.2 3-point attempts per game, while averaging 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. (Richardson, by the way, leads the Heat in blocks this season).

As the Heat deal with injuries this season, Richardson has filled in where needed. With Dion Waiters out, he’s become Miami’s secondary ball handler in the starting lineup next to Dragic, and the team’s de facto backup point guard when Dragic is on the bench. (Spoelstra rarely goes a minute without either Dragic or Richardson on the floor, a staggering pattern he reserved for Waiters.) With Dragic shouldering the responsibility of running the offense, Richardson has become Miami’s top scorer. On defense Richardson guards the opponents’ best wing player on a nightly basis — and especially in crunch time — a job that was previously held by the injured Justise Winslow. Richardson is not only collecting these additional jobs like Boy Scout pins, he’s doing them better than his predecessors.

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote, Richardson has evolved from a catch-and-shoot type to an all-around scorer: “Richardson has even shown flashes of the single most elusive star trait: the ability to create, and make, tough off-the-bounce shots — including hand-in-the-face midrangers — one-on-one in crunch time.”

He’s developed some pet moves like a nifty left-handed scoop layup. He also likes to come off a Kelly Olynyk screen and pull up from the left wing, and he’s mastered the Dwyane Wade cut — an improvised slot cut he uses when his ball handlers get caught in a bind under the rim.

He can put the ball on the floor and convert on challenging finishes:

The blossoming of Richardson is happening too late in the season for him to garner much consideration for the All-Star team, but he should make the NBA’s All-Defensive team. It’s hard to quantify defense, but Richardson is holding opponents below their regular-season shooting averages, and he’s often responsible for guarding the opposing team’s best scorer. He absolutely hounded Stephen Curry in two meetings this season.

Richardson has leapfrogged Winslow as the young player the Heat’s hope hangs on. If the Heat thought Winslow would make a leap in his third year, it’s been Richardson — taken in the second round of the same draft — who has sprouted.

The Heat this last summer locked themselves into a roster without much wiggle room. Due to the Dragic trade of 2015, they don’t have draft picks to trade or very many to use. They will be over the cap next season, and will likely pay the luxury tax the season after barring any major trades. Pat Riley’s ability to prowl the free agency market will be limited — and putting his rings on the table for a star is darn near impossible. Richardson represents Miami’s ceiling.

If he can take that “jump” Spoelstra believes he can make and develop into an All-Star, the Heat’s future is a lot brighter. (Food for thought: It’s always been Winslow who has drawn comparisons to Kawhi Leonard, but what if Richardson is the one who is more similar?) A team built around the two-way excellence of Richardson, promising young players like Winslow and Bam Adebayo, and a cast of misfit hustlers is enough to remain in the playoff picture in the East for the next few years.

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The Heat, however, are a championship-craving organization. Richardson isn’t the transcendent talent to lead them there, but he’s good enough to be a part of the journey. Just as he has this season, Richardson has a major role to play in what lies ahead for the Heat.