By Patrick Hayes

As I wrote last week, although Saginaw Arthur Hill great Jason Richardson‘s numbers have declined the last couple seasons, his 3-point shooting remains solid. That was a big reason the Philadelphia 76ers were willing to take on his contract in the big four-team trade that included Dwight Howard going to the Lakers. From John Finger of Comcast SportsNet:

The Sixers in the trade improved not only their frontcourt but also their shooting.

That’s because the Sixers also picked up veteran wingman Jason Richardson. Though he is probably best known for winning the dunk contest for two years in a row during All-Star weekend, Richardson also led the league in three-pointers made and attempted during the 2007-08 season while playing for Charlotte.

Last season Richardson shot a (relatively) low 36.8 percent from three-point range for Orlando, yet he still sank about two three-pointers per game even with league-leader Ryan Anderson on the team. With the Sixers, Richardson and newcomer Dorell Wright will be the primary three-point shooters with point guard Jrue Holiday getting his share of them, too.

And with a big center drawing a lot of the defensive attention, Richardson and his new teammates can count on being open a lot.

“Anytime you have a low-post center, he’s going to draw attention, a double team and you need shooting,” Sixers president Rod Thorn said during a phone conference on Friday afternoon. “If you look at our roster, we have Holiday, Nick Young, Dorell Wright, and now we have Jason Richardson, who’s a quality outside shooter. He’s played with big centers before. We think he can be a key guy for us.”