LA Clippers best small forwards in franchise history: 3) Quentin Richardson
Quentin Richardson spent the first four seasons of his 13-year NBA career in Los Angeles where he averaged 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in his 281 games with the team.
The sharpshooting Q-Rich hit 35 percent of his long range shots in his time with the Clippers and was a career 35.5 percent shooter from beyond the arc. The six-foot-six inch swingman’s career would probably have benefitted if he were born a few years later, as he missed today’s three-point happy league by just a few seasons.
His most productive season in the league came with the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns, which gives a bit of a glimpse of what Richardson could have done given a few more three-point opportunities per game for his career. He took eight three-point attempts per game in his sole season with the Suns (up from his career average of 4.2 threes per game) and in turn enjoyed a career high 14.9 points per game for the season.
Richardson was selected 18th overall in the 2000 NBA Draft. He was the second Clippers selection of the night after the team chose Darius Miles third overall that night. Los Angles also acquired tenth overall pick Keyon Dooling (along with Corey Maggette and Derek Strong) in a draft night trade with the Orlando Magic that would give the team a young, exciting core they hoped would carry them to a generation of success.
While the Clippers teams of the early millennium were fun, exciting, and made for good magazine cover photos, they were never quite able to achieve the level of success fans hoped for.
Richardson would leave the Clippers via free agency to sign with the Phoenix Suns in 2004.