Examining Orlando’s Free Agents: Jason Richardson

Although Gilbert Arenas had the big name and Hedo Turkoglu’s return took some of the spotlight, the player who most thought would help the Magic more than any in their December trades was Jason Richardson.

Richardson was having the three (well, two-and-a-half) best shooting years of his career in terms of true shooting percentage and was an experienced player who’s been able to hit a lot of big shots over the course of his career.

Of course, like just about every move the Magic made this season, it didn’t go according to plan.

Instead, Richardson saw a decrease in virtually every statistical category after putting up of the best numbers of his career with the Phoenix Suns in the first 25 games of the season. It all culminated in a terrible playoff showing that saw Richardson average just 10.0 points per game while posting an effective field goal percentage of 41.2% and a true shooting percentage of just 45.9%. Richardson was also suspended for game 4 because of an altercation with Zaza Pachulia in game 3.

Below are Richardson’s numbers with the Magic this season.

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(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).