{"id":194325,"date":"2026-05-06T19:40:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=194325"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:40:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:40:38","slug":"billy-richmond-iii-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/06\/billy-richmond-iii-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Richmond III 2026 NBA Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/billy-richmond-iii-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Richmond III<\/a>&#8216;s 2026 NBA Draft case is built almost entirely on what he does without the ball and away from the box score. The Arkansas sophomore stands six-foot-six and weighs 205 lbs., bringing length, athleticism, and a defensive motor that earned him SEC All-Defensive Team honors this season.<\/p>\n<p>He averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, both career highs,\u00a0 across all 37 games, playing across multiple positions for John Calipari&#8217;s Razorbacks.<\/p>\n<p>Most mock drafts currently place him in the second round, and he maintains his college eligibility as a result. His NBA future hinges on one question: Can the shooting ever catch up to everything else? Let&#8217;s take a look at his 2026 Draft profile.<\/p>\n<h2>Billy Richmond III 2026 NBA Draft Profile<\/h2>\n<h3>College Career<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBVFTGtmJo\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3500px; aspect-ratio: 3500\/3206;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Richmond arrived at Arkansas as a four-star recruit from Camden, NJ, the son of former Vanderbilt and Memphis guard Billy Richmond. His freshman year was quiet, with only 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He missed his first 10 three-point attempts of the season before finally connecting in the SEC Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>His sophomore leap was significant. He scored in double figures 23 times, including 15 of his last 21 games, and he <a  href=\"https:\/\/arkansasrazorbacks.com\/acuff-sweeps-sec-honors-richmond-and-thomas-earn-sec-honors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ranked<\/a> second in the SEC in field goal percentage in conference games at 57.4%. Next to guys like <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/darius-acuff-jr-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Acuff Jr.<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/meleek-thomas-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meleek Thomas<\/a>, Richmond performed well in his role. He provided the necessary energy and defensive effort needed around <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/18\/2026-nba-draft-prospect-overview-arkansas-darius-acuff-jr\/\" target=\"_self\">Acuff<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/15\/2026-nba-draft-meleek-thomas-scouting-report\/\" target=\"_self\">Thomas<\/a> for the team&#8217;s success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Arkansas Razorbacks wing Billy Richmond III Mid-Season Highlights | 2026 NBA Draft\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rm6v2Ry8A6s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Strengths<\/h3>\n<h4>Offense<\/h4>\n<p>Richmond creates most of his offense through athleticism and positioning rather than shot creation. He attacks the rim directly off drives, using a quick first step and legitimate burst to generate layups and dunks rather than pull-ups or floaters. His 57.4% field goal rate in SEC play reflects that approach.\u00a0 He does not take bad shots, and he does not force the issue when the defense is set. He also functions well in transition and as a cutter off the ball, finding gaps in the defense before help arrives.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, his ability to play multiple positions makes him a practical option for coaches who need positional versatility off the bench, which is a trait NBA teams increasingly value.<\/p>\n<h4>Defense<\/h4>\n<p>Defense is where Richmond separates himself from comparable wings in this class. His lateral quickness and length allow him to guard multiple positions, and he competes at the point of attack without overcommitting. His instincts off the ball stand out particularly: he times passing lane jumps well, anticipates ball movement, and converts deflections into transition opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, his motor never drops. He pursues offensive rebounds relentlessly. He recorded five offensive boards in a single game against St. John&#8217;s, and consistently disrupts opponents&#8217; offensive rhythm through sheer effort and activity. The SEC All-Defensive Team recognition reflects real impact, not just minutes logged.<\/p>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<h4>Offense<\/h4>\n<p>Three-point shooting is the defining obstacle between the Arkansas forward and a guaranteed NBA roster spot.\u00a0 In today\u2019s NBA, wings who cannot space the floor consistently are often schemed off the court in playoff settings. He shot just 25.9% from three this season, an improvement on his 12.5% freshman rate but still well below the threshold NBA teams need from wings.<\/p>\n<p>More specifically, his mechanics on stationary catch-and-shoot attempts lack consistency, his release point varies, and he does not get into his shooting motion quickly enough against closing defenders. Half-court shot creation is also limited: he relies on others to generate his looks, and his handle is not advanced enough to create his own shot against length at the next level.<\/p>\n<h4>Defense<\/h4>\n<p>Despite his defensive effort, he can be undisciplined in his positioning. He gambles for steals at the wrong moments, which leaves him out of help position when the drive kicks out.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, at 205 lbs., he struggles against physical wings and forwards who back him down in the post. He competes but gives up ground against stronger opponents. Adding functional strength will determine whether his defensive tools hold up against NBA-caliber athletes over a full 82-game season.<\/p>\n<h3>NBA Comparison<\/h3>\n<p>Richmond profiles most closely as a lower-usage version of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/finnedo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a>: a long, switchable wing whose defensive versatility and motor keep him on the court even as the offense develops. That is a real and useful NBA archetype. Teams are hunting for two-way depth on minimum contracts. They will always have interest in players like him. The ceiling climbs if the shot ever reaches league-average range, but the floor without shooting improvement is a defensive specialist who struggles to get on the court in half-court sets.<\/p>\n<h3>2026 NBA Draft Projection<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/10\/2026-nba-mock-draft-5-0-post-march-madness-edition\/\" target=\"_self\">Second round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Featured Image:\u00a0Eakin Howard-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Billy Richmond III&#8216;s 2026 NBA Draft case is built almost entirely on what he does without the ball and away from the box score. The Arkansas sophomore stands six-foot-six and weighs 205 lbs., bringing length, athleticism, and a defensive motor that earned him SEC All-Defensive Team honors this season. He averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5766,"featured_media":194345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,556],"tags":[49942,779,1566],"class_list":["post-194325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-2026-nba-draft","tag-arkansas-razorbacks","tag-draft-profile"],"modified_by":"Benjamin Yu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5766"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194325"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194350,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194325\/revisions\/194350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}