D.J. Richardson Has Little-to-No Chance of Making Utah Jazz Roster

By Cody Williams

September 22, 2013

D.J. Richardson Jazz — Jerry Lai – USA Today Sports Images

As they no longer really have a choice, the Utah Jazz are moving forward into the 2013-2014 NBA season with a young core built around their two big men in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, as well as talented young guards like Gordon Hayward and rookie Trey Burke. However, that also leaves them going into training camp with some roster spots to fill.

One of the players that the Jazz have worked out in recent weeks is D.J. Richardson, who worked out with Utah some time since it was announced that he’s received a tryout on Sept.16, per CIProud. Richardson went undrafted out of Illinois this summer and is now trying to land anywhere in the Association.

In his senior season with the Illini last year, Richardson wasn’t incredibly productive playing the two-guard for the majority of the time. He averaged only 12.3 points, 1.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 33.8 minutes per game. To make his game even less attractive, he also shot only 36.3 percent from the field and only 32.2 percent from three.

Richardson was largely looked upon as an outside shooter in college, but that reputation somewhat crumbled as his time in the NCAA wore on. After shooting 39 percent from three as a freshman, his three-point percentage declined every season while at Illinois as his role grew with the team. That’s not a good sign for his chances in the NBA.

However, even if Richardson went into his workout or even comes into training camp and shoots the lights out, it probably won’t matter for his chances with the Jazz. Utah already has seven guards under contract before training camp, which doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for an unproven guy like Richardson to come in. Perhaps he can get some people in NBA circles talking about him, but I doubt anything comes to fruition with him and Utah.

Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.