The 2021 NBA draft came and went, with former Oregon star Chris Duarte getting selected 13th overall by the Indiana Pacers.
Duarte’s extremely strong senior season catapulted him up draft boards, resulting in a spot in the lottery despite being the oldest player in the draft class.
Will Richardson will hope to follow a similar path in the 2022 NBA draft after deciding not to leave the Oregon Ducks early and instead returning for a final go-round in 2021-2022.
The latest mock draft from Bryan Kalbrosky at USA TODAY’s For The Win does have Richardson getting selected, although not until the middle of the second round at No. 48 overall to the Atlanta Hawks.
Richardson averaged 11.3 points and 3.9 assists last year, both improvements from his sophomore campaign, but he also saw his field goal percentage drop from 47.9% to 44.3% while his three-point shooting went from an outstanding 46.9% to a still good 40.3%.
He also only appeared in 16 games thanks to a thumb injury, which sucked the air out of what was expected to be an extremely stellar season taking over point guard duties from Payton Pritchard.
Richardson has a chance to wow scouts and front office personnel once again in 2021-2022 and is widely expected to be selected in the draft.
Could he take a leap, as Duarte did, and end up in the first round? Time will tell, but the story of Oregon’s season next year will no doubt hinge on how Richardson handles the point guard duties over a full season.
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