Nick Richards accomplishes feat never seen before in Suns debut
Yesterday at 08:48 PM
The Phoenix Suns were part of the next set of dominoes to fall in NBA trade season with the acquisition of Nick Richards in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets. The Suns were in need of frontcourt help and Richards certainly fits the bill. In fact, Nick Richards' Suns debut was brilliant in the sense that he accomplished a feat never before seen in NBA history.
With Nick Richards making his Suns' debut on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons, he became the first player in NBA history to finish with this particular stat-line in a team debut, as per StatMuse.
Richards finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 7-of-8 from the field. He was the first player to finished with at least 20 points and ten rebounds while shooting 85+ percent from the field and also having no turnovers in their debut with a new team.
He also finished with one assist and one steal. He shot 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.
With the Suns navigating inconsistent center play, acquiring a big man like Richards can help reignite their season, especially with this level of production.
Richards came off the bench in his Suns debut and played 29 minutes. In comparison, Mason Plumlee, who started at center, only played 13 minutes.
With this recent trade, one of the top big men available on the trade market is now off the board. The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the other teams reportedly pursuing Richards in a trade. Richards had a very productive early portion of the season, while Mark Williams was injured, to help boost his trade value.
He appeared in 21 games for the Hornets, including nine starts, at about 21 minutes per game. He was averaging 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 56.1 percent shooting from the field and 67.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Richards was originally selected with the No. 42 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Hornets via a draft day trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Hornets before this week's trade.
After the win, the Suns are now 21-20 and are in 10th place in the Western Conference standings. They've now won two consecutive games.
The post Nick Richards accomplishes feat never seen before in Suns debut appeared first on ClutchPoints.
