Ryan Richards had surgery in San Antonio and may still be here

[El_Mago]

Richards had surgery in SA on July 21st and did his rehab here at the Spurs practice facility.

He may still be in town, but I am not sure.

Spurs have not decided to send him to Europe and he may be ready to go come January.

http://www.hoopsfix.com/2010/08/excl...erview-part-1/

[E-RockWill]

Seems like the kid has a small chip on his shoulder, in a good way, & looks like he learned the worst parts of the business-side of basketball early on. The fact that the Spurs are treating him the way they are, probably like an adult & w/ respect, he wants to succeed & be the best. Largely as a big to whomever it was that has tried to rip him off.

The impression I got is that he is going to get everything he can out of this experience w/ the Spurs. He's smart enough to have a realistic outlook, seeing how he wants to be a legit NBA player in 5 years.

Go to the Toros in January, get your wind back & we'll see you in the playoffs. Okay, maybe not, but he's an interesting prospect indeed.

[BronxCowboy]

I'm glad he got it done. Wouldn't have been a great idea for him to try to keep playing without the surgery.

If I understand correctly, he has what's called a Bankart lesion, a tear in the labrum as a result of dislocating his shoulder. If he doesn't have surgery, he'll have around an 80% chance of dislocating it again, which could put him out of commision for months. I especially don't like the way he seems to kind of pull up and swing on the rim every time he dunks in the videos. Everytime his arm goes behind his head he's asking for trouble. If he's going to be playing in the big league anytime soon, I would get that taken care of.

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthre...surgery&page=7

[angelbelow]

Wow.. the Spurs were seriously considering taking this kid at 20? Thats insane.

- Richards also says that he was easily the most skill PF at the combine.. not sure who else was at the combine though.

- He also says its not about making money, but this is what he wants to do period. So he wants to get into the D-leauge because he feels thats the best way to get into the NBA.

- 5 year goal - become a legit NBA player.

-10 year goal - win an NBA championship.

[BackHome]

Wow.. the Spurs were seriously considering taking this kid at 20? Thats insane.

- Richards also says that he was easily the most skill PF at the combine.. not sure who else was at the combine though.

- He also says its not about making money, but this is what he wants to do period. So he wants to get into the D-leauge because he feels thats the best way to get into the NBA.

- 5 year goal - become a legit NBA player.

-10 year goal - win an NBA championship.

I am so glad that he had the surgery here and that the Spurs are going to handle his rehab. The kid is young so making sure he does the rehab right is crucial and also making sure the kid is lifting weights correctly will hopefully help stop future injuries.

I remember at one of the combines I think a reporter asked either Xavier Henry or Paul George who had impressed them the most and he said "The kid from England" so if another first round player gives ya props that had to count for something..

[Solid D]

Ali G seemed a bit reserved doing that interview with Ryan.

[ChuckD]

Spurs have not decided to send him to Europe and he may be ready to go come January.

Actually, he said January 21st, which is damn near February. Seems like a waste of a season to sign him at that point.

[silverblackfan]

The guy sounds pretty mature for his age and pretty confident in his ability. Wonder if Pop thinks he is worth keeping stateside?

[Dex]

I wonder if Richards would sign with the Toros as a Free Agent. The money isn't the same but the players live in a good city and the team puts them up on apartments on parmer. And at least Richards will play.

Really? Do you know which ones?

[ceperez]

Great upside, smart kid.

I'm glad he prioritized having surgery. I'm guessing he didn't do so earlier because he didn't have the money. The kid has been trying to earn a living playing basketball. So he's likely also built a lot of character in the process.

[ChuckD]

I wonder if Richards would sign with the Toros as a Free Agent. The money isn't the same but the players live in a good city and the team puts them up on apartments on parmer. And at least Richards will play.

I had an interesting thought. If he signed a d-league contract, and blew up, could another team call him up? He wouldn't be on our 15 man roster, but we do own his NBA draft rights.

[CubanMustGo]

Really? Do you know which ones?

May be different ones now that the team is playing in Cedar Park ... tho Parmer does *go* all the way to Cedar Park.

[coyotes_geek]

Actually, he said January 21st, which is damn near February. Seems like a waste of a season to sign him at that point.

Agreed. No point in blowing a cheap nba rookie contract year just so that he can play half a season with the toros.

[ceperez]

Richards had surgery in SA on July 21st and did his rehab here at the Spurs practice facility.

He may still be in town, but I am not sure.

Spurs have not decided to send him to Europe and he may be ready to go come January.

http://www.hoopsfix.com/2010/08/excl...erview-part-1/

Wait a minute here, clearly the Spurs are footing his surgery bill and rehab. Without apparently having signed him.

As a 2nd round draft pick, they own his rights.

If he plays in Europe, the Spurs will continue to own his rights.

If he plays in the D-league without the Spurs signing him up, then the Spurs lose his rights.

Now he has said that he doesn't want to play in Europe. So if he pursues this demand then the Spurs will need to either sign him or waive him. So he has got a choice now, bite the hand that has been feeding him and risk playing in the D-league or be grateful to the Spurs and play in Europe.

Other option is the Spurs sign him and make him another project (which based on the Mahinmi, Hairston scenarios has never really worked out).

[cantthinkofanything]

[QUOTE=coyotes_geek;4572336]Agreed. No point in blowing a cheap nba rookie QUOTE]

WTF. Sicko.

[E-RockWill]

WTF. Sicko.

You suck.

[coyotes_geek]

Agreed. No point in blowing a cheap nba rookie

WTF. Sicko.

My apologies to those who do see a point in blowing cheap nba rookies.

[Anonymous Cowherd]

I'd been wondering what would happen to him.

Hopefully can be signed up in January and get his chance for the Toros.

[Dex]

May be different ones now that the team is playing in Cedar Park ... tho Parmer does *go* all the way to Cedar Park.

Yeah, Parmer is no small stretch. I both live and work off of it, so I was just curious.

[ceperez]

No, his rights are owned by the Spurs still.

I think he still needs to sign a contract with the Spurs. If he doesn't and plays in the D-league then we waive his rights. He can play anywhere else he plays, the Spurs own his rights.

[ceperez]

The D-League is just like any other professional league, except they pay a lot less. If Richards really wants to take less money and play in the DL then I doubt that's the case.

Problem with the D-league is that any other team can call up a player. Any player of the Toros, with the exception to the ones the Spurs assign to the team, can be called up by any other team.

So in short, if Richards plays in the D-league without a contract with the Spurs, then he can be signed by any other team.

If he plays in Europe or elsewhere in the world, the Spurs retain his rights and no other NBA can sign him.

[ChumpDumper]

No, if Richards refuses a minimum tender offer from the Spurs and chooses to join the D-League (theoretically speaking, it has never been done), the Spurs would retain his rights.

There is only one unsigned draft pick I remember playing in the D-League, Ricky Sanchez. His was a fairly unique case as he played for the Idaho Stampede when it was a CBA team, so his presence there was kind of a grandfathering situation. No other team could call him up, though. NBA teams couldn't call up those who were going to be in the draft after the season either; e.g., Latavious Williams, Mike Taylor, Jeremy Wise.

[ceperez]

No, if Richards refuses a minimum tender offer from the Spurs and chooses to join the D-League (theoretically speaking, it has never been done), the Spurs would retain his rights.

There is only one unsigned draft pick I remember playing in the D-League, Ricky Sanchez. His was a fairly unique case as he played for the Idaho Stampede when it was a CBA team, so his presence there was kind of a grandfathering situation. No other team could call him up, though. NBA teams couldn't call up those who were going to be in the draft after the season either; e.g., Latavious Williams, Mike Taylor, Jeremy Wise.

agree that if he refuses a spurs offer then the spurs still have his rights. kind of like the danny ferry situation.

if the spurs don't offer him anything and he plays in the dleague thrn i guess he can be called up like any other team. kind of like a undrafted player. actually more precisely, if the spurs don't make an offer (not sure if there is a deadline) then its like being waived. if i call jack mclinton needed to ask the spurs to release him so that he could make it in another team. i however don't know for how long the team can hold his rights.

[ChumpDumper]

if the spurs don't offer him anything and he plays in the dleague thrn i guess he can be called up like any other team. kind of like a undrafted player. actually more precisely, if the spurs don't make an offer (not sure if there is a deadline) then its like being waived

The tender offer is a nonguaranteed minimum deal. At this point, we're not really sure he's even a free agent.

if i call jack mclinton needed to ask the spurs to release him so that he could make it in another team.

Right, he had already taken the tender offer.

i however don't know for how long the team can hold his rights.

The team no longer holds any rights on McClinton.

[ceperez]

The tender offer is a nonguaranteed minimum deal.

I guess it isn't going to be a lot of money. The downside is that the clock starts ticking, so he better develop within the next 3 years or investment make come to naught.

Signing in Europe gives Richardson more time to develop before the Spurs relinquish his rights.