The progress of Josh Richardson continues...

[Lipoli390]

I actually watched some of the Heat/Pistons game last night.

Richardson is very good defensively. Not perfect, but very good. He was often guarding Reggie Jackson or Ish Smith, with McGruder and Dragic taking the Detroit wings. Ish and Reggie were a combined 11-31. One thing he is very good at is recovering quickly from being screened and still challenging the shot. He actually got a couple blocks this way, where his man thought he had an open jumper coming off the screen, only for Josh to get back into the play and challenge the shot.

Probably the weakest part of his game is just general physicality. He doesn't draw many fouls and the rebounds he gets are usually ones that more or less come to him versus ones he grabs out of a scrum. He definitely prefers 3 pt jumpers and pull-ups off the dribble versus going all the way to the rack hard. He is a very solid passer and even brings the ball up from time to time as the initiator of the offense.

I agree with your assessment, Q. I would add that Josh is a very good ballhandler. That's what has surprised me the most as I've watched him this season. I think his quickness and ballhandling will eventually translate into a good dribble-drive game. He's outperforming Wiggins by a lot so far this season. And his trajectory has been consistently upward. I'd love to pair him with Josh Okogie moving forward. Josh 1 and Josh 2. :)

[Lipoli390]

I still think Tyler Johnson, while severely overpaid, is the best realistic "filler" contract the Heat could offer. I personally wouldn't include Kelly Olynyk in that category as he's more of an asset based on past production and current cost.

For Tyler Johnson to make sense as part of a Butler deal, the Wolves would need to include Gorgui or Taj. Otherwise, the salary disparity would be too big, thrusting the Wolves immediately into the luxury tax zone.

My absolute favorite deal that I consider to be in the realistic realm would be Butler, Gorgui and Patton for Richardson, Bam, Tyler Johnson and Miami's 2019 first round pick (probably lottery protected but possibly top 10 protected). But I'm not sure that's a realistic deal, especially given how good Richardson has looked. If Miami's unwilling to take on Gorgui, then the only way we can make a Butler deal with Miami work, with or without Bam in addition to Richardson, would be to take back Waiters.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I still think Tyler Johnson, while severely overpaid, is the best realistic "filler" contract the Heat could offer. I personally wouldn't include Kelly Olynyk in that category as he's more of an asset based on past production and current cost.

For Tyler Johnson to make sense as part of a Butler deal, the Wolves would need to include Gorgui or Taj. Otherwise, the salary disparity would be too big, thrusting the Wolves immediately into the luxury tax zone.

My absolute favorite deal that I consider to be in the realistic realm would be Butler, Gorgui and Patton for Richardson, Bam, Tyler Johnson and Miami's 2019 first round pick (probably lottery protected but possibly top 10 protected). But I'm not sure that's a realistic deal, especially given how good Richardson has looked. If Miami's unwilling to take on Gorgui, then the only way we can make a Butler deal with Miami work, with or without Bam in addition to Richardson, would be to take back Waiters.

This is a good post, Lip, and I agree with your "absolute favorite" deal that -- in my mind -- is realistic. I don't think Justin Patton would necessarily need to be involved, but that's a super minor detail. However, the bolded section isn't totally and completely true.

The wildcard that could come into play here is Wayne Ellington's contract. His one-year, $6.27M expiring contract paired with Josh Richardson -- with and without Bam Adebayo -- would match salary with Jimmy Butler. The unfortunate aspect with Ellington is that he can't be dealt until December 15th and he essentially has a no-trade clause. Mind you, I do think he'd accept a trade back to Minnesota, but it's something to consider.

To reiterate, in no scenario should the Wolves take back Dion Waiters and his bloated contract. The same can be said for Hassan Whiteside.