Josh Richardson Becomes Free Agent, Open For the Taking

Josh Richardson was just a throw-in by the Miami Heat at the trade deadline in their deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors and landed them Andrew Wiggins. But the Utah Jazz, the fourth team in that deal that acquired Richardson, really had no use in keeping him around. With that, he has been waived, and becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Josh Richardson, thrown by the Heat into the Butler-Wiggins trade for salary purposes, has been waived by the Jazz, to become a free agent. By rule, cannot re-sign this season with the Heat.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) February 9, 2025

As noted by Heat beat writer Ira Winderman, Richardson cannot re-sign with Miami, per NBA rules. However, if he is able to show that he's recovered from a lingering heel injury that's kept him out of the lineup since November, there could be some interest from contending teams in signing up the 31-year-old on a veteran’s minimum contract. He had picked up his $3 million player option with the Heat before the season, so he's still got the rest of that salary to lean on.

Richardson, a former second-round pick by Miami in 2015, played the first four years of his career in South Beach, then bounced around for a few years before landing back with the Heat last season.

Once known as a prime 3-and-D player in the league, he's no longer much of a long-range shooter, while his defense is decent though not really elite at this point.

His best season was his 4th in the league, when he averaged a personal best 16.6 points with the Heat, starting 73 games and playing a career-high 35 minutes a night.

With two trades in 24 hours (to Detroit then Utah) last week, he's been dealt five times in his NBA career, and been with six different teams. He's now on the open market, looking for his 7th.

Overall, he has a career 36.3% mark from three-point range, though he was hitting on just 27.3% in the eight games he got into this year, and 34.7% in 43 games with the Heat last season.