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Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising/falling after week two?

By Thomas Valentine

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 26: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors dribbles as he is guarded by Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks at Scotiabank Arena on October 26, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 26: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors dribbles as he is guarded by Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks at Scotiabank Arena on October 26, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors – Malachi Richardson (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Malachi Richardson – Stock Down

The Raptors acquired Richardson in a trade with the Sacramento Kings for forward Bruno Caboclo – who was almost a year away from being a year away. Tsk.

In theory, it was trading one experimental player for another. Malachi had supposedly improved markedly in the offseason but garbage time minutes for the Raptors haven’t really given us a glimpse of what could be from the former first-round pick.

Richardson amassed 24 minutes of playing time this week, with the bulk of those minutes coming in the loss against the Milwaukee on Monday night. And unfortunately, Richardson didn’t offer much in the way of productivity. He went 1-6 from the field with one turnover and a foul. His six shot attempts were all from three, volume shooting with no consistency in limited minutes is a big no-no.

Richardson’s role will be primarily limited to minor bench minutes this season, and beyond that his future is now unclear. The Raptors declined Richardson’s fourth-year option on Wednesday and now every time he takes to the court he’s auditioning for a spot in the NBA. Some players can thrive under that sort of pressure but it’s a situation you wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Richardson will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, teams may be willing to kick the tires on him as a late bloomer. The Raptors could potentially be one of those teams. Richardson will likely spend some time with the Raptors 905 once the G-League season gets underway and the likelihood is he’ll become a good scoring weapon for them.

If his admittedly small sample size is anything to go by, though, we may not see him in a Raptors uniform beyond this season.

I do like to be proved wrong though, Malachi.

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