That's the word on the street right now, anyway.
Former Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson declared for the NBA Draft awhile ago. Since then, his stock's been steadily rising -- and now, even more so following his Tuesday workout at the Impact Basketball facility in Las Vegas.
According to NBA executives who spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey, Richardson could have potentially lifted himself into the NBA Draft's top 10 with the performance he put on. From one exec:
"Phenomenal. It's looked like last year's [Kristaps] Porzingis workout. I'm hearing he's going in the top 10."
Strong praise from the anonymous exec, but accurate enough that Richardson cancelled his upcoming workouts with the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets, according to Pompey.
Pompey also asked Richardson about his potential to be selected by his hometown-ish Philadelphia 76ers, and (maybe surprisingly) the former Orange guard seemed to be open to the concept.
"I would love to play for Philly. That's the hometown, basically. Philly is not even an hour drive from my house. I would definitely look forward to going to the organization and becoming a better player and a better man. I know they can teach that."
"I'm looking forward to winning there. They are definitely making some big moves this offseason. So it's going to be interesting how this draft goes for that team."
Unless he jumps all the way to first overall, it would seem difficult for Richardson to both meet these new, loftier projections and get drafted by the Sixers, though. Philadelphia has the first pick, but then doesn't draft again until no. 25. So where could Malachi go if he's truly top-10ish?
Assuming something in the 8-13 range, his options include the Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz. Of those, only the Raptors and Magic are really in the market for another guard at this time.
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Plenty more shifts left to be had before the NBA Draft later this month. But good to see Richardson continuing to rise on teams' boards.
