Jase Richardson

Basketball is the family business for the Richardsons. Jase's father, Jason, played 14 seasons in the NBA. His mother, Jackie, also played college ball and was influential in training the Michigan State standout during his youth. Jase was born in Berkeley, California, but attended Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas before transferring to Christopher Columbus in Florida. After coming off the bench to start his collegiate career, Richardson started his final 15 appearances under Spartans coach Tom Izzo, averaging 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals in 30.4 minutes per game during that stretch. Jase received Third-Team All-Big Ten honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. To be expected given his family tree, Richardson looks like he's been trained by pros his entire life. He's an elite shooter who's great at navigating screens, and his tape is like watching shooting drills. Richardson's 1-on-1 game relies on lethal stepback and hesitation moves, but he'll need to expand his game to be a go-to scorer in the NBA. He isn't a true point guard, but his shooting ability gives him a gravitational pull with defenders, and he's willing to find the open guy. There's nothing flashy on defense with Richardson, but he also doesn't make a lot of mistakes, which is rare for a freshman in Big Ten play. Richardson has a Stephen Curry (6'2, 185) quality about him when he's running around screens and raining threes from the clouds, but he's not that level of shooter or ballhandler. You can also see flashes of James Harden (6'5, 220) when Richardson splashes a lefty, stepback three-pointer, but Harden was bigger and a better point guard coming out of college. Jared McCain (6'3, 190) and Cameron Payne (6'3, 183) are more apt comparisons for Richardson. McCain looked like the clear favorite for Rookie of the Year last season before a season-ending knee injury, and Payne has carved out a solid NBA career as a backup point guard.