2025 Rookie Observation (12): Is the son of the former Warriors a good chance to enter the lottery zone?

Jase Richardson

Team: Michigan State University (NCAA)

Date of birth: October 2005

Place of birth: Berkeley, California, USA

Grade: Freshman

Position: Double-Energy Guard

Height: 191cm

Weight: 87kg

Template: Reggie Jackson?

Expected market: Lotto to the middle and late stages of the first round

National high school students rankings (2024): On3 ranked 34th (four stars), 247 ranked 18th (five stars), ESPN ranked 19th (four stars), Rivals ranked 9th (five stars)

Honors: 2025 Big Ten League Best Team, 2025 Big Ten League Best Rookie Team

Note 1: Father former NBA star Jason Richardson. When Jace was born, Richardson, the Sr., happened to play for the Golden State Warriors, which is why he was born in California. Richardson, the oldest, also played at Michigan State University. Note 2: Mother Jackie Paul Richardson played at the NCAA Division II team at the University of Colorado Springs. Until the 8th grade, my mother was Jace's coach.

Note 3: My younger brother Jaxon Richardson is a five-star high school student in the 2026 class, and the ranking of high school students is higher than Jax.

Season data:

36 appearances (15 starts), 25.3 minutes per game, 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds (0.6 frontcourt rebounds), 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks, 0.8 turnovers and 1.5 fouls, shooting percentage of 49.3% (4/8.1), three-point shooting percentage of 41.2% (1.3/3.2), and free throw shooting percentage of 83.6% (2.8/3.4).

Advantages:

Richardson is a backcourt player with delicate skills, excellent dribble control and outstanding role on the offensive end. Richardson has excellent breakthrough skills, and he can use changes in direction and rhythm and rate to complete breakthroughs, and his excellent skills and basic skills can also support him in doing this. Richardson has a very good ball-holding offense and has the potential to become a main controller.

Richardson has excellent ball-holding offense, his mid-range shooting stability after dribbling, and his breakthrough and finishing ability are excellent. Facing the opponent's inside defense, he can also achieve physical balance and complete his moves through his coordination and physical control. Richardson also has a small throwing skill, and his foul-making ability is also good. Richardson also has a certain ability to move without the ball. He can use the empty cut to find opportunities under the basket, and he can also find opportunities to shoot outside through the movement without the ball. Richardson has extremely high 3-pointers' stability, his shooting speed is very fast, and he is an excellent pitcher.

Richardson has good passing ability, overall view and vision. He is very fast in the ball, and he often jumps and passes on the court, and can play a good result. He has strong decision-making skills, he is often able to make the right decisions, and his playing style is also very decisive. Richardson often uses his breakthrough and finishing ability to attract opponents’ defensive attention and pass the ball to the hands of players in open positions. Richardson is also good at finding room for passing after pick-and-roll.

Richardson has extremely fast pace movement speed and lateral movement speed. His reaction speed is also quite amazing. He can do it without losing position on the defensive end, and he also has certain ability to switch defenses, and his defense effect is still good. In addition, his defensive prediction ability is also good, and he can also appear in the ball's route.

Disadvantages:

Richardson's athletic ability is relatively not that excellent. His bounce and explosive power can only be considered as a sloppy level, and there is still a certain gap compared to top talented players. Richardson's figure is also obviously limited, and his ability to confrontation is slightly insufficient. In the NBA, it is unknown whether Richardson can maintain such breakthrough and finishing ability when facing higher intensity defense.

Richardson's outside shooting percentage is still good, and his catch-up is very high. However, Richardson's number of outside shootings this season is actually not many. Whether he can maintain stable efficiency with the increase in the number of shots, and whether he can make some changes in his playing style, and find opportunities for outside shooting more through dribbling is also a point worth paying attention to.

Richardson is not the team's number one player. Michigan State University also has a No. 1 player with a pass and control ability that is much better than Richardson. Richardson has indeed shown his ability to hold the ball, but whether he can take on more responsibilities on the offensive end and whether he can maintain such efficiency after getting more ball rights is still a question mark.

Richardson's figure is relatively limited, and his ability to confront is relatively average. When encountering players with a taller figure than him, he may have some problems on the defensive end..

Expected market:

Relying on his outstanding performance this season, Richardson's draft market has been improving. Judging from the current situation, he has a full chance to reach the final position of the lottery, and it seems that his draft market is also improving. Of course, the situation is also relatively subtle. Richardson's draft market is not that outstanding, and his uncertainty is relatively high, and his draft market may also decline to a certain extent.

Personal prediction:

Personal belief that Richardson may be a seriously underrated player, and his ability in all aspects is actually very outstanding. He has not fully demonstrated his talents this season, which is related to his position in the team at the beginning of the season and to the team's judgment of his ability. If Richardson is given a higher tactical position, he is fully capable of playing more gorgeous data and performing more comprehensively. Now Richardson's draft market is near the lottery zone, and his draft market will still have a certain amount of room for improvement in the future.

Target teams:

Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks

Mavericks actually need backcourt players who can hold the ball and score, and they should very much need Richardson; the Spurs can consider using Richardson to replace Devin Vassell; the Heat also have room for strengthening in the backcourt position, and they also need players with excellent comprehensive abilities like Richardson; both the Nets and the Hawks need to add backcourt players with strong plasticity and greater room for future development to improve the competitiveness of the second team, and Richardson is also a player who meets their goals.