Syracuse Basketball: Grading the Orange in the NBA

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C. . Guard. Toronto Raptors. MALACHI RICHARDSON

It seemed for a while that Richardson was beginning to up his playing time in Sacramento. The shooting guard played in 25 games for the Kings, and even started four, averaging 3.5 PPG and 1.3 RPG over about 13 minutes of playing time each game, per ESPN.

Richardson even cracked double-digits in scoring once, with 10 points against the Wizards on October 29th. However, Malachi was traded to the Raptors, and never really got a big opportunity.

Richardson did actually score two points in his lone game in a Raptors uniform, but the majority of his time in Toronto has been on the bench or in the G-League, where he averaged 8.8 PPG and 3.9 RPG, per G-League. In a reoccurring trend, Malachi is also still young, and has clearly proven that he could be a potential scoring threat off the bench.

I do think that Malachi has a ton of potential. At 6-6, he is at a great size for the off-guard. Richardson can also score in many ways, including from three and in the lane. If he can continue to work on his game and improve his defense, the 22 year old from Trenton, New Jersey could potentially be a lethal scorer off the bench.

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