Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; The Oklahoma City Thunder celebrate after winning game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

MSU's Jase Richardson Joins NBA Champions in Recent Mock

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 5:30 PM ET

Michigan State's Jase Richardson is just two days away from achieving his dream of making it to the NBA, just as his father, Spartan legend Jason Richardson did.

One thing Jason Richardson can hold over his son's head is that he won a national title in college, a feat that Jase Richardson fell three wins short of as he and his Spartans were bested by Auburn in the Elite Eight, ultimately concluding the young guard's brief career in a Michigan State uniform.

But Jason Richardson never won an NBA title in his 13 years playing in the league. Perhaps his son will have an opportunity to do that right off the bat.

The Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA Finals on Sunday, and they have the No. 15 overall pick in this week's NBA Draft.

CBS Sports' latest mock draft has the Thunder taking Jase Richardson with that pick.

"If one OKC weakness revealed itself during the postseason, it was the occasional scoring droughts due to a heavy reliance on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander," wrote CBS Sports' Colin Ward-Henninger. "Enter Richardson, a knockdown 3-point shooter who has also shown finishing ability in the midrange and at the rim. He should also be able to hang on the league's best defense, which would help him vie for playing time immediately."

This spot is a little higher than most of the latest mocks have had Jase Richardson going. During the college basketball season, though, this was the norm for him to be projected in the mid-teens.

It wasn't until Jase Richardson measured in at 6 1/2 feet at the NBA Combine that experts began having doubts. Since then, projections have ranged from high-teens to as late as high-20s.

If the Thunder chose the Spartan product, he would be joining an immediate title contender and could actually be a meaningful contributor to a team that can surprisingly still be better than it was this year.

The last Spartan to win an NBA title was Xavier Tillman Sr., who won it with the Boston Celtics last year. Perhaps Jase Richardson could quickly become the next.

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