#25: Welcome to Orlando, Jase Richardson!

[Skin]

I ain't gonna be too mad about the 25th pick. Whoever we drafted, that guy was going to be 3rd string. So he's got a puncher's chance of making it. If he can hit an open 3, I'll be happy. A piss poor playmaker, and defense that will remind us of Jameer, but whatevers. I don't trust his 3PT% since it was on low volume, but I kinda like his handle. Was hoping for a 40 year old Chris Paul on a cheap contract for our backup but I knew that was a long shot.

[The Real Dalic]

Great pick. However, the FO still must get a veteran PG or SG for the bench. Jase should not be in the rotation this season if we're serious about making significant progress. But for the future, I really love Jase.

[cedric76]

Low risk/ high reward, that's what you go for at #25, he won't see much pt but it s a good asset.

Jett doing a great job

[eyriq]

Great pick. However, the FO still must get a veteran PG or SG for the bench. Jase should not be in the rotation this season if we're serious about making significant progress. But for the future, I really love Jase.

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that they’re eyeing Jett for that fourth guard spot in the rotation. Weltman has consistently said he values giving young players a clear path, and Jett’s been blocked up to this point by guys like Cole and Harris. He handled his G League assignment like a pro, and while he had a few chances last season, he didn’t quite seize them. This could be his make-or-break year.

[The Real Dalic]

Great pick. However, the FO still must get a veteran PG or SG for the bench. Jase should not be in the rotation this season if we're serious about making significant progress. But for the future, I really love Jase.

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that they’re eyeing Jett for that fourth guard spot in the rotation. Weltman has consistently said he values giving young players a clear path, and Jett’s been blocked up to this point by guys like Cole and Harris. He handled his G League assignment like a pro, and while he had a few chances last season, he didn’t quite seize them. This could be his make-or-break year.

In that case, I'd rather play Jase. Lol Jett is not an NBA player.

[dsg2021]

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?t=W_4Ec9cPk1mV1-LFj9TU3w&s=19

SixRingsofSteel grades A+ and Jase Richardson as #10 on his Big Board. Go to 40:39 mark.

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I would assume we got a glowing A+ from Nik Oza as well, who was in one of the earlier rating charts shared in this thread as a sports analyst's opinion, since he had Jase Richardson as #7 on his Big Board. He seems to rank on EV, his metric factoring projected performance versus projected contract values. Moneyball style.
Here is the link and the juiciest excerpts.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-165734912

7. Jase Richardson (Average Distribution, Low Confidence)
There is a good argument that Tom Izzo did not make the most of Jase until he became a starter 22 games into the season. And there is also a good argument that Jase’s utility was limited by the Michigan State offense’s old-school aversion to shooting threes... he shows good shooting potential between 41.2% 3P%, his 83.6% FT%, and 7.3 3FGA per 100 despite the Izzo three point shooting tax... managed to put up great production across the board in that weird Michigan State offense with an aversion to shooting threes. And his elite AST/TOV implies more offensive point guard upside than how Michigan State’s season played out, even if it is more likely that his best offensive fit ends up being as a secondary or tertiary initiator in an offense that is more reliant on a wing or big primary... as I wrote in my Harper analysis, there is a (positive) predictive signal in having an NBA dad.

[drsd]

To fully understand how small Jase is, he has identical numbers ( height, weight, wingspan) like Devonte Graham.

If Richardson's upside is Devonte' Graham, then this is a good pick.

For the next 2 years, Richardson will get approximately no floor time. But, maybe, he can be a 10-15 mpg backup scoring lead guard from 2027 and on. A role Graham should have been used for, not as the tank commander he has been to date.

[drsd]

Great pick. However, the FO still must get a veteran PG or SG for the bench. Jase should not be in the rotation this season if we're serious about making significant progress. But for the future, I really love Jase.

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that they’re eyeing Jett for that fourth guard spot in the rotation. Weltman has consistently said he values giving young players a clear path, and Jett’s been blocked up to this point by guys like Cole and Harris. He handled his G League assignment like a pro, and while he had a few chances last season, he didn’t quite seize them. This could be his make-or-break year.

In that case, I'd rather play Jase. Lol Jett is not an NBA player.

Orlando needs a 3rd string PG and does NOT need a 3rd string SG. Trading Howard and "another asset" in a SnT for a competent backup-SG makes a huge amount of sense. I agree that keeping Richardson and dumping Howard would be wise.

[Skybox]

Jase was 15th on the consensus big board.

Interesting...looks like Jase and Jakucionis were the only ones who were projected higher by EVERY "expert" than their draft spot...then, you factor in fit in ORL...Let's Go!

I'm not delusional...it's pick #25...I'd say that's as good as it gets in that range...BPA and Best Fit

[p0peye]

I have concerns that this is Cole 2.0.

Yes, Jase was more efficient in college than Cole. Yes, he has a 6’6” wingspan, but Jase is going to have to do it against much bigger and better athletes now. And he doesn’t have Cole’s bounce.
He’s 6-foot barefoot and weighed 178 pounds at the combine.

I hope he was drafted for another team (but it doesn’t seem like it based on early indications).

I'm hoping for Jameer Nelson 2.0.

[Skybox]

Jase Richardson will be the next Draft STEAL that Teams let pass by -

Spoiler:

First off, we had a ton of Jase Richardson love in the last couple days. We had some amazing, eye popping posts with advanced stats saying Jase is HIM. I forgot who needs to take the bow for helping open our eyes on Jase if anyone wasn't checking him enough yet (Knightro made the most recent posts the past two days iirc?). I am excited to read through my fellow MagicRealGMers' older posts and newer posts showing the incredible value of Jase Richardson. Please insert copious amounts of clips and videos, haha.

In early May when I was finally looking at the draft, I actually spent a whole night constructing a 10+ filters study to produce brutally surgical top draft lists for the Magic.
One of those lists was "Guards whose Assist Rates suggest playing SG next to Suggs" and it was:

Kon Knueppel
V.J. Edgecombe
Tre Johnson
Brice Williams
Silas Demary Jr.
Chad Baker-Mazara

After I watched more tape to match the filters study, I catapulted Tre Johnson to a tier alone at #1 on that list, and then kept the rest of the list in the same order.

What I didn't tell anyone was how much it really sucked for me to eliminate Jase Richardson from that list. Jase was actually in a very close battle for #3 on that list. And I spent almost an hour trying to keep him on that list because even the defensive stats were pointing at someone who is bit of a dog on defense. And the under hour tape looks were just not changing my mind to drop him either. But, alas, the height was one of the most critical 10+ filters, and I had to remove him despite almost adding him and saying "height be damned, he's that good guys, sorry to completely ignore the filters after all."

People might be wary of another undersized combo type guard here, but have zero fear. He's 19, maybe there's a chance he's 6'2 or 6'3 in shoes within 3 seasons. His wingspan is 6'6, longer than Cole Anthony's and the same as Jalen Suggs, that All-NBA Defense team type of guy. Jase is a dog on defense. We are seeing some short guards still make great defensive impacts. The stats are basically on Desmond Bane's level. The only stat line that matters is the last 15 games when Jase started getting heavier minutes.

In 30 MPG for those final 15 games, he went 16.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.7 APG on 0.7 TO, and 1 SPG. With a RIDICULOUS efficiency line of 47 FG%, 42 3P% on 2.0 3PM per game, and 82 FT% on 4.0 FTM per game. He also had one common phenomenon as Tre Johnson. People said Tre was too weak to be a driver in the NBA, like Jase was too short to be a driver in the NBA. But both kept creeping their FTA up! You cannot ignore Jase having a certain physicality to his drives and getting to the line for 5.0 FTA per game. The whole 3P% shooting is also absolutely ridiculous to another level, I won't even cover it more in-depth because it was covered by others in the Draft Thread before and after Draft Night. His 3PT was so scary efficient that it was a wonder why he didn't shoot 3's quite as much as 2's (including drives), but that's how scary efficient he was at driving and midrange.

He came in as a 19 year old freshman who was not even top 30 ranked out of high school over the likes of Tahaad Pettiford, a 2nd round pick probably. To compare him to other undersized scoring guards like Cole Anthony whose rotation minutes can already be Jase's, Cole got in with a crazy high school ranking and more athleticism than most undersized guards. But Cole was 18 PPG on 38 FG% and 35 FT% on 4 APG to 3 TO. Similar story elsewhere, Walter Clayton 44 FG% and 37 3P% on 18 PPG. Kasparas (not so short) at 44 FG% and perennially 32 3P% even from his high school seasons while scoring 15 PPG and 5 APG to 4 TO.

Jase Richardson is in a tier above them and basically anyone else that wasn't Tre Johnson, VJ Edgecombe, or Kon Knueppel in my early May filters list study. He is a monster elite shooter. A dog on defense. He is ready to play. He won't pretend to play PG, he defends PG's on defense, and plays like a SG on offense. We were the most perfect roster to complement him, and him to complement us. And he was ESPN's Jay Bilas #1 target for the Magic too.
Guys, we just traded in KCP for Desmond Bane. And Cole Anthony for Jase Richardson. And Jase has some scary potential for being a top 5-10 player from this draft when it's all said and done in 3-5+ years.

Other Notes from Draft Night -

Spoiler:

- I actually valued Egor Demin around #8 as well. I mentioned it in May, I think I would have had to pick at #16 no matter what, shooting be damned.
- I actually valued Kasparas past #20 as well. In fact, I would have picked Jase over him. Probably (remember his perennial 32 3P%). And for sure Jase over Walter Clayton. I would have also picked Jase over Nique Clifford despite my love for Nique, just because we needed that firepower and dog defense at the 1/2 area instead of someone who has to maybe defend the 3/4 areas more than 2/1. Nique also was a Usage hog, whereas Jase was fully embracing being a non-high Usage monster scorer.
- Yang Hansen was the biggest drama of the night too. The public info of him meeting the Orlando Magic for two hours was, imho, the final nail in the coffin for POR to say screw it, we gotta secure him. At least it gave the Magic like an hour to readjust, maybe take a longer look at trade down's, up's, and outs.

Moving Forward to the 2nd Round -

Spoiler:

I was on the train for Bigs at #25 after the Desmond Bane trade. But in the last 3 days, the free agency competition heated up a lot and the salary cap numbers crunching got more accurate for me and showed I was starting to be delusional with a dreamy summer acquiring three quality tier names like NAW, GTJ, and Tyus Jones all at once in FA. And it was more like, pick one, and you might get it.

So moments before #25 was called tonight, I had my top 3 Big Board as small Jase Richardson next to towers in Ryan Kalkbrenner and Maxime Raynaud. And a few more names I would have still been content with like McNeeley.

Suffice it to say, the armchair GM in me wants to trade #46 and the number of future 2nd's that gets us into a low #30's. Then bring in Ryan Kalkbrenner or Maxime Raynaud as the 3rd string Center with A LOT of potential to break into 2nd and 1st string (I have Kalkbrenner a tiny bit ahead of Maxime). ESPN says Maxime is BPA and should be #31, and Kalkbrenner #35. I also love ESPN's #32 BPA of Rasheer Fleming, an Isaac-like PF a lot for ORL.

There's a whole entire mess of guards, wings, and shooters in the 2nd round that I won't get bother getting into. Except to say that I have a soft spot for Ryan Nembhard as a worst case scenario #46 and best case scenario #57 pick that ORL has near the very end. I'm here at the Roulette table betting Ryan is a PG awfully similar to some of CP3's older seasons.

You wrote this?

Yes, I had to use the Spoilers feature because it was too long as usual :/ At least it might be my last long post for a long time. All we have left is the two 2nd's with all the odds against 2nd rounders, and hopefully a juicy MLE signing and that is less of a mystery player in the NBA.

Great Job...I agree that somewhow coming away with Kalkbrenner or Raynaud now would be a masterful draft

[Skybox]

Jett doing a great job

I woke up at 4am to read THIS?

[eyriq]

Great pick. However, the FO still must get a veteran PG or SG for the bench. Jase should not be in the rotation this season if we're serious about making significant progress. But for the future, I really love Jase.

My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that they’re eyeing Jett for that fourth guard spot in the rotation. Weltman has consistently said he values giving young players a clear path, and Jett’s been blocked up to this point by guys like Cole and Harris. He handled his G League assignment like a pro, and while he had a few chances last season, he didn’t quite seize them. This could be his make-or-break year.

In that case, I'd rather play Jase. Lol Jett is not an NBA player.

I mean, I don’t totally disagree. I’ve always thought he looked overmatched, and nothing he’s done so far has changed that. But I try to factor in how the front office viewed him initially and how they might be updating that view now. They saw a lottery talent. Has he clearly disproved that in their eyes? Probably not yet.

[Tarheel]

I'd have preferred Danny Wolf, but I'm not mad at it - it's always good to load up on high IQ players that can shoot the 3.

By all accounts a great attitude guy too - sounds like a Cole replacement with longer arms and a better 3 ball.

[MoMM]

He is 19 right?

Any chance we can get ( was it skybox) protein regimen to try to make him at least 3inches higher

Man, his father is rich and a former NBA player, don't you think he already took everything that was possible to get taller?

[fendilim]

Jase Richardson will be the next Draft STEAL that Teams let pass by -

Spoiler:

First off, we had a ton of Jase Richardson love in the last couple days. We had some amazing, eye popping posts with advanced stats saying Jase is HIM. I forgot who needs to take the bow for helping open our eyes on Jase if anyone wasn't checking him enough yet (Knightro made the most recent posts the past two days iirc?). I am excited to read through my fellow MagicRealGMers' older posts and newer posts showing the incredible value of Jase Richardson. Please insert copious amounts of clips and videos, haha.

In early May when I was finally looking at the draft, I actually spent a whole night constructing a 10+ filters study to produce brutally surgical top draft lists for the Magic.
One of those lists was "Guards whose Assist Rates suggest playing SG next to Suggs" and it was:

Kon Knueppel
V.J. Edgecombe
Tre Johnson
Brice Williams
Silas Demary Jr.
Chad Baker-Mazara

After I watched more tape to match the filters study, I catapulted Tre Johnson to a tier alone at #1 on that list, and then kept the rest of the list in the same order.

What I didn't tell anyone was how much it really sucked for me to eliminate Jase Richardson from that list. Jase was actually in a very close battle for #3 on that list. And I spent almost an hour trying to keep him on that list because even the defensive stats were pointing at someone who is bit of a dog on defense. And the under hour tape looks were just not changing my mind to drop him either. But, alas, the height was one of the most critical 10+ filters, and I had to remove him despite almost adding him and saying "height be damned, he's that good guys, sorry to completely ignore the filters after all."

People might be wary of another undersized combo type guard here, but have zero fear. He's 19, maybe there's a chance he's 6'2 or 6'3 in shoes within 3 seasons. His wingspan is 6'6, longer than Cole Anthony's and the same as Jalen Suggs, that All-NBA Defense team type of guy. Jase is a dog on defense. We are seeing some short guards still make great defensive impacts. The stats are basically on Desmond Bane's level. The only stat line that matters is the last 15 games when Jase started getting heavier minutes.

In 30 MPG for those final 15 games, he went 16.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.7 APG on 0.7 TO, and 1 SPG. With a RIDICULOUS efficiency line of 47 FG%, 42 3P% on 2.0 3PM per game, and 82 FT% on 4.0 FTM per game. He also had one common phenomenon as Tre Johnson. People said Tre was too weak to be a driver in the NBA, like Jase was too short to be a driver in the NBA. But both kept creeping their FTA up! You cannot ignore Jase having a certain physicality to his drives and getting to the line for 5.0 FTA per game. The whole 3P% shooting is also absolutely ridiculous to another level, I won't even cover it more in-depth because it was covered by others in the Draft Thread before and after Draft Night. His 3PT was so scary efficient that it was a wonder why he didn't shoot 3's quite as much as 2's (including drives), but that's how scary efficient he was at driving and midrange.

He came in as a 19 year old freshman who was not even top 30 ranked out of high school over the likes of Tahaad Pettiford, a 2nd round pick probably. To compare him to other undersized scoring guards like Cole Anthony whose rotation minutes can already be Jase's, Cole got in with a crazy high school ranking and more athleticism than most undersized guards. But Cole was 18 PPG on 38 FG% and 35 FT% on 4 APG to 3 TO. Similar story elsewhere, Walter Clayton 44 FG% and 37 3P% on 18 PPG. Kasparas (not so short) at 44 FG% and perennially 32 3P% even from his high school seasons while scoring 15 PPG and 5 APG to 4 TO.

Jase Richardson is in a tier above them and basically anyone else that wasn't Tre Johnson, VJ Edgecombe, or Kon Knueppel in my early May filters list study. He is a monster elite shooter. A dog on defense. He is ready to play. He won't pretend to play PG, he defends PG's on defense, and plays like a SG on offense. We were the most perfect roster to complement him, and him to complement us. And he was ESPN's Jay Bilas #1 target for the Magic too.
Guys, we just traded in KCP for Desmond Bane. And Cole Anthony for Jase Richardson. And Jase has some scary potential for being a top 5-10 player from this draft when it's all said and done in 3-5+ years.

Other Notes from Draft Night -

Spoiler:

- I actually valued Egor Demin around #8 as well. I mentioned it in May, I think I would have had to pick at #16 no matter what, shooting be damned.
- I actually valued Kasparas past #20 as well. In fact, I would have picked Jase over him. Probably (remember his perennial 32 3P%). And for sure Jase over Walter Clayton. I would have also picked Jase over Nique Clifford despite my love for Nique, just because we needed that firepower and dog defense at the 1/2 area instead of someone who has to maybe defend the 3/4 areas more than 2/1. Nique also was a Usage hog, whereas Jase was fully embracing being a non-high Usage monster scorer.
- Yang Hansen was the biggest drama of the night too. The public info of him meeting the Orlando Magic for two hours was, imho, the final nail in the coffin for POR to say screw it, we gotta secure him. At least it gave the Magic like an hour to readjust, maybe take a longer look at trade down's, up's, and outs.

Moving Forward to the 2nd Round -

Spoiler:

I was on the train for Bigs at #25 after the Desmond Bane trade. But in the last 3 days, the free agency competition heated up a lot and the salary cap numbers crunching got more accurate for me and showed I was starting to be delusional with a dreamy summer acquiring three quality tier names like NAW, GTJ, and Tyus Jones all at once in FA. And it was more like, pick one, and you might get it.

So moments before #25 was called tonight, I had my top 3 Big Board as small Jase Richardson next to towers in Ryan Kalkbrenner and Maxime Raynaud. And a few more names I would have still been content with like McNeeley.

Suffice it to say, the armchair GM in me wants to trade #46 and the number of future 2nd's that gets us into a low #30's. Then bring in Ryan Kalkbrenner or Maxime Raynaud as the 3rd string Center with A LOT of potential to break into 2nd and 1st string (I have Kalkbrenner a tiny bit ahead of Maxime). ESPN says Maxime is BPA and should be #31, and Kalkbrenner #35. I also love ESPN's #32 BPA of Rasheer Fleming, an Isaac-like PF a lot for ORL.

There's a whole entire mess of guards, wings, and shooters in the 2nd round that I won't get bother getting into. Except to say that I have a soft spot for Ryan Nembhard as a worst case scenario #46 and best case scenario #57 pick that ORL has near the very end. I'm here at the Roulette table betting Ryan is a PG awfully similar to some of CP3's older seasons.

You wrote this?

Yes, I had to use the Spoilers feature because it was too long as usual :/ At least it might be my last long post for a long time. All we have left is the two 2nd's with all the odds against 2nd rounders, and hopefully a juicy MLE signing and that is less of a mystery player in the NBA.

aweosme. You should post more often now that the team is back winning again.

[Knightro]

Jett doing a great job

I woke up at 4am to read THIS?

He keeps accidentally referring to “Jeff” Weltman as “Jett”

For 29 other NBA fanbases that sort of typo wouldn’t be a problem. But alas…

[fendilim]

I'd have preferred Danny Wolf, but I'm not mad at it - it's always good to load up on high IQ players that can shoot the 3.

By all accounts a great attitude guy too - sounds like a Cole replacement with longer arms and a better 3 ball.

Size-wise, he is similar Cole. But he is more efficient.

[Bergmaniac]

I have concerns that this is Cole 2.0.

Yes, Jase was more efficient in college than Cole. Yes, he has a 6’6” wingspan, but Jase is going to have to do it against much bigger and better athletes now. And he doesn’t have Cole’s bounce.
He’s 6-foot barefoot and weighed 178 pounds at the combine.

I hope he was drafted for another team (but it doesn’t seem like it based on early indications).

Cole 2.0 with the 25th pick and paid the salary of a 25th pick is a very good outcome, tbh.

[basketballRob]

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What's he gonna do with 29 not-Magic baseball caps???

I think the NBA succeeded in finding the ugliest hats they could find.

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