It’s probably an overlooked aspect of the current assembly of Golden State Warriors, who most look old and injury prone–problems that showed themselves in a big way last season, a year that ended with a 37-45 record and a loss in the second play-in game. But the Warriors do, in fact, have some young players on hand, and not just newly drafted forward Yaxel Lendeborg. The team is also hopeful of a decent second=year showing from 2025 second-round draft pick Will Richard, the guard who led Florida to a championship in 2025 much as Lendeborg did with Michigan in 2026.
Richard was thrown into the fire as a rookie last season, playing 69 games with 15 starts. Some of that was desperation, and while Richard showed some promise, he averaged just 6.4 points and 1.3 assists in 20.0 minutes, with the Warriors 1.9 points per 100 possession worse when he was on the floor offensively, and 1.4 points worse defensively.
But he was 22, undersize, and bottomed out as the season went on. In the second half of the year, Richard got more minutes (22.0) but shot just 29.3% from the 3-point line and scored 5.9 points.
Will Richard Scored 16 to Open Summer League
On Friday, Richard made his summer league debut in the California Classic with the Warriors, scoring 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 4-for-5 from the 3-point line. He also poked away three steals and looked–as he should–like the most comfortable player on the floor.
As the Warriors weigh the possibility of LeBron James coming to the Bay, the team still needs to find some youth it can rely on. It would be a tremendous help if Richard becomes more reliable and consistent.
Warriors Happy With Richard’s New Look
Warriors beat writer Joseph Dycus of the Mercury-News said that there is some real hope around Richard going forward.
“He looks like you want Will Richard to look. He wasn’t really force anything up. …” Dycus said. “Will scored his 16 very efficiently, he looks better than everybody. He is doing exactly what you want him to do, he dominated in that, or at least he dominated in that role.”
Warriors Looking for Young Legs
If Richard can make himself into a useful rotation player next season for the Warriors, he will help Steve Kerr find the “young legs” he said he was seeking in his return press conference in May. The Warriors are doing what they can to improve the roster and hopefully become a better postseason team, but developing some younger, more athletic players in the regular season will be a key.
A Year 2 leap for Richard would be welcome. It’s only summer league, and we might not see much more of Richard this month, but it’s so far, so good for him thus far.
Said Dycus: “He just looked so much quicker. He looked like he had more wiggle, more burst. Will told us that he was burnt out at the end of last year, like he was just—he did. He had a couple months off, he has been in the gym, he looked physically stronger. He has put on muscle and he is quicker.
“It’s like, he was guarding Jalen Brunson at times last year, he got switched onto LeBron. When you’re doing that, and then you’re going up against Chris Manon, no offense, guys like that, you’re like, it’s a little bit a different game.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Warriors 23-Year-Old Teases Big Year 2 Leap appeared first on HEAVY.