Josh Richardson, Celtics ink one-year extension to current deal

The Celtics have agreed to tack on a one-year extension to the current contract of newly-acquired swingman Josh Richardson, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The former Mavericks wing’s contract was initially set to expire in 2022 after paying him $11.6M this season. Charania notes that Richardson is now set to earn $24M from 2021-2023, indicating that Richardson will net somewhere between $12-13M during the 2022-23 season.

Earlier this summer, Richardson’s contract was sent to Boston in exchange for 7’2″ center Moses Brown in a one-for-one exchange. The Mavericks created a $10.9M trade exception as a result of the agreement.

The 6’5″ Richardson, 27, will suit up for his fourth team in four seasons this fall. Initially drafted by the Heat with the No. 40 pick out of Tennessee in 2015, Richardson spent his first four seasons in Miami, flashing promising signs of being a 3-and-D wing, one of the hottest commodities in the NBA. He was sent to the Sixers as part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade in the summer of 2019, and then moved again to the Mavericks during the 2020 offseason.

During the 2020-21 season, Richardson averaged 12.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.5 APG, his worst output in those categories since becoming a full-time starter with the Heat during the 2017-18 season. A career 35.8% shooter from long range (on 4.5 attempts a night), Richardson could help Boston in a more limited role as a floor spacer, supporting All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.