JASE RICHARDSON SCOUTING REPORT | 2025 NBA Draft | Orlando Magic | Michigan State

JASE RICHARDSON SCOUTING REPORT | 2025 NBA Draft | Orlando Magic | Michigan State

jace Richardson should be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft this is Florence Ceiling let’s break him down jace Richardson averaged about 12 points three rebounds two assists one turnover and one steal per game at Michigan State this came on incredible efficiency which is where his NBA outlook starts richardson’s true shooting percentage came in at 62.4% and he hit high marks at the rim and from three i’ve been highlighting Jace since the start of this draft cycle when my biggest question was whether his efficiency would hold on higher usage however the Michigan State freshman eventually entered the Spartan starting five and he just kept excelling in the NBA i’m viewing Richardson as a backcourt connector who can dribble pass and shoot and make decisions to different extents my hope is that he really ramps up his volume from deep as I think that the 19-year-old can be a really good three-point shooter in a high-end outcome you can think of Richardson in the mold of Jared McCain the biggest question though with regards to his profile honestly is his size richardson measured at just over 6 feet without shoes at the NBA draft combine with a 6’6 wingspan he’s more of a two guard or some teams might even perceive him as closer to a wing so he lacks positional size some of the concerns that popped up with Bronny James or the Anthony Melton might pop up again although Jayce has more Twitch regardless I’m confident in Richardson as a combo guard who can play on and off the ball thanks to his speed feel and efficiency but who will likely lean towards operating off the ball more thanks to his catch and shoot ability connective playmaking and easy fit next to more ball dominant stars i’m expecting Jace Richardson’s scoring to begin with his three-point shooting the Michigan State prospect made about 41% of his threes on 114 attempts focusing on just his catch and shoots that figure impressively ticks up to almost 46% jay’s shooting splits are incredibly efficient across the board but I really wish that his volume was higher richardson took a little over seven threes per 100 possessions and I would like to see that skyrocket because I think that the 19-year-old might be a very good three-point shooter whose efficiency can sustain more attempts jay’s offball shooting is scalable next to bigger primary initiators whether that’s a guard a wing or a big i wish that he was a little bit taller but he’s still about 6’2 in shoes which isn’t terrible depending on how the rest of the lineup is constructed still Richardson’s size will probably limit how he can be used unless he basically becomes undeniable so sure I have a high level of confidence in Richardson’s three-point shooting but I have to keep seeing more like I said more volume but also more versatility more range and more quickness with his release i’m not convinced that he’ll stay in the 40s from three once he’s in the NBA but I feel pretty good about a safe floor in the high30s given that Richardson can drill his catch and shoot threes that gives him the gravity and space to attack closeouts richardson prefers to go left but he can go in both directions he has really elastic body control after leaving the floor off of one foot and he contorts his limbs into some really bizarre shapes richardson only needs one or two dribbles to get to his spots but I’m not fully convinced by his process yet on one hand Jace has that enticing acrobatic element to his finishing that is backed up by strong efficiency which again is the tail when it comes to Richardson’s game as a freshman he made nearly 69% of his shots at the rim and in the half court Jayce’s conversion at the basket is around 64% at the same time Richardson is a little over reliant on avoiding contact and coming up with tough unorthodox finishes that is when he’s at the rim but Richardson can also get downhill touch the paint and then transition into a followway too he never really pulls up leaning forward which is interesting and of course Richardson does have touch and he makes these shots off of one leg but I don’t really think that he should rely on these in college it was harsh to nitpick Jayce’s efficiency looking ahead though I do think it’s valid to question his process it’s also worth scoping out the league and wondering or at least thinking about how many players similar to Richardson are thriving [Music] richardson’s pull-up shooting will become much more important if he fulfills his ceiling right now his shot profile definitely slants more towards spot-ups however Jace still took a decent amount of shots off the bounce as a freshman at this juncture he’s more comfortable and efficient from the mid-range than from three thinking back just now to how Jace attacks close outs this definitely makes sense his touch from the mid-range is great and he really knows how to arc his jumper over bigger longer defenders richardson made about 48% of his two-pointers off the dribble which is a great figure however a closer look reveals that this came on pretty small volume extending out to the three-point line this might be Richardson’s swing skill i’m not overly concerned about his size even if it’s not ideal i don’t mind that he doesn’t dominate the ball either however I want Richardson to flesh out his three-point shooting as much as possible if that means remaining an excellent spot up shooter that will have value but I think that Richardson shows some intriguing glimpses off the bounce jace only made 10 threes off the dribble in 36 games so the challenge will be raising that number a look at his playing history suggests that he can handle more reps on the ball yet I would be very surprised if he developed into a primary ball handler down the line that doesn’t mean that Richardson cannot add value on the ball though he flashes upside as a slasher once again you can return to his figures at the basket to see this richardson uses his speed to turn the corner out of screens really he prefers to go left when he does this the Michigan State freshman is small but he covers ground with his velocity and body control the same items that I mentioned with how he attacks closeouts apply here richardson has a funky athleticism off of one foot and around bigger defenders that is kind of hard to read he’ll use float overs and stepthroughs to touch the paint and sure Jace has limitations but I feel like the craft is there to mostly overcome them [Music] my most pressing concern is the size it would be a lot easier to fully buy into Richardson if he was 6’3 or 6’4 instead he’s barely 6 ft tall without shoes jace can find it challenging against length he has to rely on tough floaters and double clutch finishes so whenever Richardson enters the paint and it’s packed getting blocked is definitely a possibility [Music] then Richardson just has kind of a murky profile he’s not really an onball guard he can definitely make plays with the ball in his hands but his moments with the Rock are brief if that makes sense i voiced some of this in my very first evaluation of Richardson in December and these questions with his finishing should pop up as far as his slashing and selfcreation goes but even right now they’re apparent with his floor for instance Richardson can get blocked after attacking the closeout overall I’m optimistic but I feel like he won’t stay in the very high 60s at the basket or at least not immediately richardson’s somewhat limited self-creation flows into his creation for others that’s the biggest difference between Jace and an adjacent prospect like Kasparas Yakuchonis in my opinion Yakuchonis is a very talented passer well I think that Richardson’s playmaking is mostly unremarkable it’s pretty functional but also on pretty low volume focusing on the positives Jace can make some reads out of the pick and roll his assist to turnover ratio was great and his turnovers were very low like with his finishing Richardson executes after touching the paint be that to generate a three or make the drop off pass with the former the Spartans guard mostly looks towards his strong side i didn’t find Richardson’s turnovers to be concerning although they speak to the questions about his game jay had some problems attacking closeouts which will be important for him he needs to make sure that he’s reading the defense on time and distributing passes accurately in this regard Richardson’s size limits the angles that he has access to in college broadly speaking he didn’t facilitate all that much for others even if the decisions that he made were usually correct in the buildup to the draft I’m sure that NBA teams were digging into Richardson’s past tape in high school to get a deeper look at his onball upside [Music] i feel decent about Jace Richardson defensively he has solid feel and tools in spite of his size which remains the biggest knock on the Michigan State freshman this season Jace averaged 0.3 blocks and 0.8 steals per game that’s not a lot but it’s not low either taking into account his position and size i honestly think that Richardson’s outlook on this end is relatively straightforward so I won’t take too long when he’s on the ball the 19-year-old is a twitchy effective mover richardson flips his hips jumps high and runs fast on that first note Jace can change directions and angles he has great body control as a whole like we’ve been seeing richardson smothers drives and he’s disciplined with his closeouts regardless of whether he needs to stop short or go long then Richardson gets some stalks he’s not exactly a defensive playmaker but he’ll change some shots around the rim or he’ll use his explosion in the passing lanes jace plays with an encouraging level of toughness and I believe that his motor is very reliable he’s guaranteed to play hard and stay engaged for example this can happen at the nail he’s generally active there and he does little things overall that contribute to getting stops wrapping up I like that Richardson doesn’t take unnecessary risks or make avoidable mistakes like on offense even if this is harder to measure on this side of the floor I find Richardson is a very efficient defender thanks to the decisions that he makes i’m guessing that you’ll already know Richardson’s biggest limitation which of course is his size really Jayce’s defensive margins as a whole are relatively limited of course he lacks height and then he’s long but only to an extent even when Jace stays with the play the attacker might still score that would probably happen less if the Spartans freshman had two or three more inches on his frame in totality Richardson lacks the tools to recover whenever he has to do that i don’t think that this happens to a concerning degree but it’s definitely worth pointing out finally there’s an argument to be made that Jace will be positionally limited that is he’ll only defend guards but I think that this sounds more dramatic than it really is richardson will guard ones and twos and I expect that there will usually be a player on the floor around his dimensions for him to defend [Music]

#MichiganState freshman Jase Richardson should be in consideration for the lottery in the 2025 #NBADraft. His father is former #NBA player Jason Richardson.

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Credit:
– “World War Outerspace” – Audio Hertz
– NCAA
– ESPN
– CW
– TNT
– ABC
– Peacock

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Chapters:
00:14 PLAYER OVERVIEW
2:15 THREE-POINT SHOOTING
3:50 ATTACKING CLOSEOUTS
5:35 PULL-UPS
7:20 DRIVING
9:35 PASSING
11:11 DEFENSE
14:14 TAKEAWAY