Warriors draft national championship star at No. 56

After trading up three spots, the Dubs chose NCAA championship hero Will Richard from the Florida Gators

The Justinian Jessup era is official over in Golden State. The Warriors traded the rights to Jessup, their No. 51 pick from the 2020 draft, to the Memphis Grizzlies to move up from No. 59 to No. 56 and select March Madness hero Will Richard.

Richard had 18 points, eight rebounds, and made four three-pointers in Florida’s 65-63 win over Houston. He made a crucial steal with 26 seconds left to seal the game.

Why was Richard available with the 56th pick? It’s because he’s good at a lot of things but he isn’t amazing at any of them. He was a 35.5 percent three-point shooter in college — pretty good! Not great. He’s 6-foot-3 — a little short for a shooting guard, but with a 6-foot-10 wingspan. His shooting splits were 49/36/84, all good shooting numbers but not great.

He does have a lot of potential as a defender and got 1.7 steals last season for the Gators. Richard’s long arms do a lot to make up for his lack of height. He’s also a solid rebounder, something that has been a hallmark for Golden State Warriors guards recently.

Richard is described as a “combo guard,” which often means a player isn’t really a point guard or a shooting guard. He does play tough defense, meaning he could be the classic draft archetype of a three-and-D guy. The Warriors loves threes, after all, and are fairly fond of D as well. Richard is also very good in transition.

Florida coach Todd Golden really loved Richard. “The kid is an incredible light bulb, an incredible human being,” Golden said during the Final Four. “We looked at his numbers at Belmont — incredibly efficient as a freshman, high-usage player, great rebounding rates, great steal rates, great block rates … We’re like, ‘If we can get 13 Will Richards on this roster, we’re going to make the Final Four.”

The Warriors are probably looking at Richard as a two-way player, just like their other selection, Alex Toohey. But if nothing else, Richard should be a fantastic addition to the Warriors’ team at Las Vegas Summer League and the Santa Cruz Warriors. He’s a very fun player to watch and plays really hard. You could do worse at No. 56.