Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising/falling, plus two career-nights

Malachi Richardson – Stock Down

Someone was bound to lose out and unfortunately for Malachi Richardson, he was the loser here. Richardson was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, along with a 2022 second-round pick and the draft rights to Emir Preldzic in exchange for cash considerations.

Trading away Richardson clears a roster that was obviously not being used to its full potential. He appeared in 22 games this and averaged 1.4 points per game in a lowly four minutes.

His role was limited to garbage minutes and as an occasional throw of the dice by Nick Nurse, however, he didn’t impress in the small sample size. Richardson proved to be a streaky shooter, at best, and a non-existent defender. In short, the Raptors couldn’t afford to waste a roster spot on him any longer.

Players like Chris Boucher have managed to play themselves in contention for more minutes with strong performances in limited minutes, so the idea that Richardson could have made more of the opportunities given to him doesn’t appear to be too farfetched.

Richardson was a solid contributor for the Raptors 905, but his impact in the NBA was non-existent. In fairness, Richardson’s development was hindered by a Kings team who struggled to utilize him in an effective way and injuries that set him back. In no way is he a bad, it just didn’t work out in Toronto.

That’s a shame, and hopefully, Malachi can find himself a spot where he can get regular rotation minutes. He was waived by the Sixers yesterday afternoon.