Josh Richardson was surprised when he found out not long before last week’s NBA trade deadline that he’d been dealt to the San Antonio Spurs.
“But once I looked at it and everything, I was excited to see the roster with a lot of young guys, a lot of hungry guys,” Richardson said.
Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City, near where he grew up, Richardson is looking forward to being a veteran presence with the Spurs.
“It’s exciting to be able to come here and help these young guys figure how to play and how to grow,” Richardson said. “I have already been through a lot of the stuff they are going through, so I figure I can be another voice, if anything, to kind of even things out.”
Richardson and Romeo Langford, who also was acquired in the deal that sent Derrick White to Boston, could make their San Antonio debuts against the Thunder. The duo joined the team Sunday and were available but did not play in Monday’s 120-109 loss in Chicago.
The Spurs have won three of their past five, splitting the first four games of their eight-game trip.
Richardson and Langford could assimilate quickly with San Antonio once they join the rotation thanks to their experiences in Boston. Celtics coach Ime Udoka and assistant Will Hardy were longtime members of Gregg Popovich’s Spurs staff.
On Monday before the game against the Bulls, Richardson and Langford quickly noticed the similarities in the shootaround routine.
“So, you are already starting to see some of the little things,” Richardson said. “Some of the principles they bring to the game are kind of similar.”
The Thunder are coming off an overtime win over the New York Knicks on Monday that snapped a five-game losing streak as Oklahoma City ended a three-game trip.
In that game, Josh Giddey, 19, became the first teenager in NBA history to record a triple-double against the Knicks. It was the rookie’s third triple-double and his second in a row.
With Oklahoma City leading scorer and point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having missed the past nine games with an ankle injury, Giddey’s role has expanded significantly.
Over those nine games, Giddey is averaging 16.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists. He was averaging 11.6 points before Gilgeous-Alexander’s injury, and his rebounding and assist numbers have risen as well.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder hoped Giddey would benefit from an extended look at an expanded role.
So far, so good.
“He doesn’t shrink when things get tight,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He just keeps playing. He plays through mistakes, plays through pressure. Bodes well for him and for us.”
Wednesday’s game is the third of four meetings this season between the teams.
The Spurs and Thunder have split their first two meetings, with each team winning at home.
While San Antonio will have some new faces since the last game between the teams on Jan. 19, Oklahoma City will look even more different.
Not only will Gilgeous-Alexander miss the game — both teams’ last before the All-Star break — but the Thunder also will be without Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Mike Muscala, all of whom have missed extended time due to foot and ankle injuries.
Luguentz Dort also is questionable for the Thunder after missing Monday’s win with a left-shoulder strain.
–Field Level Media