He is still young so maybe he gets his act together only time will tell.....
It's definitely a step in the right direction. Even though the Greek league is nothing to write home about apart from the two top teams Pana and Oly, it's still far more compe ive than Austria or UAE.
I still believe that he can at least be a useful player for Euroleague teams.
He is still young so maybe he gets his act together only time will tell.....
At least we can now look up his stats. There is nothing available from his stint with UAE or maybe there is nothing to see.
Not even close..guy is only 22 and most euro's do not make it too the spurs roster till 25+ anyways. Still has time turn around his career and make it to spurs roster in my opinion.
Definitely a step in the right direction.
The odds are strong that he never becomes an NBA player- however despite his tour of the more obscure leagues of the world- he does keep playing. Not sure what to make of that. On one hand it doesn't look good, on the other he doesn't just hang it up. You would think if people thought he had potential a bigger team in Europe would sign him up.
Anybody have any inside scoop on what the Spurs really think about him?
This may be true for more traditional bigmen or specialists coming from Europe, but I think it's harder for players like Richards who primarily depends on athleticism. That's one thing that doesnt get better with age and experience.
Hard to still have hope for him. His youth is undermined by his at ude and injury history.
Richards is both athletic and skilled. His problem isn't that he can't physically play in the NBA. It's that he has no BBIQ and is selfish and immature. If he even had Ayres' or Bonner's at ude, he'd be a solid starter.
You can follow his stats here:
http://basketball.realgm.com/player/...s/Summary/2434
Right now he averages 9 pts and 3.7 rebs in 21.6 mpg, while shooting 40% overall and 30% from 3.
His team is last in the standings and looking at some boxscores, it seems that he is taking quite a lot of three pointers even though he plays center for them.
Richards has always been an outside shooter.
I never got that about him. He always displayed great quickness, length, and athleticism inside. So what part of that made him think "I WANNA SHOOT THREES :3" I mean , developing a consistent mid-range game seems more legit than having a 7'1" big-man who lives from deep.
There's been some discussion over the years about a player like Richards (rights owned by an NBA team) coming over to play in the Dleague without signing an NBA contract and taking up an NBA roster spot. Among the many problems with that possibility was the convoluted process that would have been required to get the player to the Dleague team associated with the NBA team that owned his rights. Well, there's been a recent change to the rules that eliminates those issues.
NEW YORK, March 4, 2014 – The NBA Development League today announced that NBA D-League players who are also on an NBA team’s ‘draft list’ may be directly acquired by the affiliate of the NBA team that holds his draft rights. Such players will be able to bypass the usual NBA D-League player selection processes, including the NBA D-League Draft and the in-season waiver wire. The new rule will take effect beginning with the 2014-15 NBA D-League season.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/nb...014_03_04.html
The very low Dleague salary means that this will likely not be an option for players that can make a good salary in Europe, but at a certain point a player like Richards may see it as an option.
Very interesting. Richards is still very young (Leonard's age, I believe), so there is time to bring him a long slowly. But he's ha three years of toiling in obscurity save for a few flashes. I don't see him having another chance if he doesn't get a contract from the Spurs this upcoming off-season.
Yeah the guy has the potential he just needs to get his head on straight and have someone to keep him on the straight and narrow path. He seems like he has the work ethic he just needs direction and as you said for a Big Man he is still young so if he is serious his agent should be calling the Spurs.
Some are still hoping for Javtokas to make the team. Richards will be on the fans radar for the next 10 years.
If only he would not have gotten on that damn bike......Damn You....
I've pretty much accepted that. He'll never be here, yet people will never shut up about him, much like Javtokas.
Exstatic -deep, deep down we al know you are wanting Richards on this team..
Eh, I gave up hope on this guy already. Which sucks because I was creaming myself during that stint he had with the U20 team in 2011 or so...
But if you're an athletic 22 year old big-man who can't get big minutes on the Summer League Squad, you're not a legit prospect.
Thankfully I have LVJ to break my heart now
What happened to this guy? One day, SpursTalk is declaring him the next Lamar Odom / Chris Bosh, and the next, he completely falls of the face of the Earth.
He was never really on the face of the Earth. He's always been a prospect with intriguing talent by little intangibles and even less production. I imagine he'll be on the summer-league team again, though, and he may end up getting a chance in camp depending on how free agency goes. So we'll get a chance to see him a couple of more times before he fades for good.
http://basketball.realgm.com/player/...s/Summary/2434
Accoring to RealGM, Richards is having an awful year in Greece. He's averaging 10 and 5 in 25mpg, which is already pretty bad given the level of compe ion. But his Per is 9.53, which is abysmal, as are is 92 ORtg and 112 DRtg. He's certainly not trending in the right direction. His only saving grace is that he could play a lot better in the Spurs' system than he does on scrub teams, but he's not doing much to warrant giving him a chance with the big club any time soon.
Back to Austria with his former club.
Sad quite honestly
Dude has such great tools but he doesn't take any advantage of it. He will never be a Spur.
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