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LOS ANGELES — Usually Steve Kerr knows when a player scores his first NBA basket because he has a tradition of immediately asking for the game ball to preserve it for safekeeping. 

But when rookie Will Richard collected a Buddy Hield airball and flipped in a floater along the baseline, the veteran head coach completely forgot. 

“I told the guys, the reason I forgot is because Will looks like he’s in his seventh year. He doesn’t look like a rookie out there.” 

Eventually, the Warriors tracked down the game ball and presented it to Richard (opens in new tab), the 22-year-old out of Florida. He already has plans to put it in a case: “Yeah, that’s staying with me,” he told The Standard postgame. Perhaps he’ll put it on display next to his NCAA Championship ring. 

In the Warriors’ 119-109, season-opening victory over the Lakers, Richard was Golden State’s eighth man. He logged 14 minutes, drew the Austin Reaves defensive assignment, and hit both of his field goal attempts. 

It was Richard’s first taste of real NBA action, and he didn’t look out of place for a minute. 

“If you’re on the Warriors, everybody’s going to get a chance, for sure,” Hield said. “Steve lets ’em play. And Will’s a national champion. He’s 22 years old. He understands how to play. He understands how to win. And we all trust him. Steve trusts him, of course, and that’s all that matters.” 

Richard’s stat line from the opener wasn’t impressive on its face. He recorded five points, a rebound, and an assist in his 14 minutes (the Warriors were outscored by 11 with him on the floor). But the 56th overall pick earning immediate minutes is a feat in itself.

That also continues a trend. In general manager Mike Dunleavy’s three drafts, the Warriors have selected Brandin Podziemski (19th in 2023), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57th in 2023), Quinten Post (52nd in 2024), and Richard. Because the Warriors rarely pick in the lottery, or even in the first round, Dunleavy’s job is to find diamonds in the second-round rough, and he has a chance to go 3-for-3 if Richard continues contributing. 

Jackson-Davis played 68 games as a rookie, rim-running and protecting the rim to earn a rotation spot. Post gave Golden State a new look in the second half of last year with his volume 3-point shooting and as he finished over 40% from deep. Now Richard has a chance to make an impact. 

Getting any production out of players deep in the second round is a major win for a front office. Many players picked in the 50s are either draft-and-stashes or projects that start on two-way contracts. 

But the Warriors got positive contributions from Jackson-Davis and Post as rookies. And they’re all on guaranteed standard minimum deals — the cheapest possible contracts that balance out Golden State’s top-heavy cap sheet. 

Each entered the league with at least four years of college experience, a trait Golden State has targeted with the hopes of finding players who are more prepared for the highest level. 

Kerr in particular loves players who come from winning college programs, and Richard was drafted months after winning Florida’s first national championship since Al Horford led the Gators to back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

When the Warriors drafted Richard, Dunleavy tempered expectations. It’s hard for second rounders to make an impact as rookies, he reasoned. It’d be unfair to expect as much, even with Richard’s championship pedigree. 

“We see him as a two-way player who can shoot it and defend, and I think he’s a pretty good on-ball defender and a very good off-ball defender,” Dunleavy said after the draft. “He’s got good length, and he’s coming from a really good program and system where he’s well-coached and well-taught in many years in college. This is a guy who knows how to play.”

Kerr quickly came to the same conclusion. The head coach knew after a couple preseason exhibitions that he’d feel comfortable trusting Richard with regular-season minutes. His instincts for cutting off the ball and playing smart team defense stood out in camp. A behind-the-scenes clip produced by the team surfaced showing the head coach fawning over the rookie. 

Richard’s feel for the game was clear in the opener too. 

Kerr tapped Richard in the first quarter. A minute after checking in, Richard picked Reaves’ pocket 35 feet away from the basket for a steal.

At 6-foot-5, Richard has only decent size for a wing. But his 6-foot-10 wingspan gives him the potential to guard up. Even early in his Florida career, he played some minutes at power forward, so he has experience defending both guards such as Reaves and players who have the height advantage over him. 

In two minutes of total matchup time against Reaves, Richard held the crafty guard scoreless. Reaves, meanwhile, shot 8-for-12 with Gary Payton II, Podziemski, Hield, or Horford in front of him.

“I pride myself on being able to defend,” Richard said on Oct. 17. 

Defending in college and at the NBA level are two different things. Even the most defensively gifted rookies tend to struggle adjusting to the NBA. Richard might too. But the seeds are there. 

Halfway through the second quarter, Richard left his man in the weak-side corner as Luka Doncic lobbed an entry pass to Deandre Ayton in the post. The pass never made it there. Richard, sneaking under Ayton, deflected the entry pass before leading a fast break, finding Payton for an alley-oop. 

Doncic is a genius-level passer. It’s not everyday that a rookie fools him. 

That’s not the kind of play a typical rookie makes — especially a late second-rounder. Then again, Dunleavy has made a habit of drafting atypical prospects.

Apparently, the GM can spot one with the anticipation of a seventh-year vet.