Jason Richardson Injury to Keep Him Out for the Season?

There was a throwaway line in yesterday's straw-grasping and factually gray Cooney article about the Sixers roster this season in which Bob conjectured aloud that Jason Richardson would miss the entire season. When he went down in February, the knee surgery recovery time was said to be 6-9 months. If he misses this season, that'll be almost 15 months.

Now, maybe it's because the Sixers are telling him they're more than happy to pay him this season while he sits on his ass and gets healthier, but that still seems like a big jump for me. There hasn't been any updates about J-Rich's health to my knowledge, aside from presumptive reporting and most people forgetting he's even on the team. So I'd guess this is more guesswork from Cooney since the Sixers haven't officially come out and said otherwise.

It does at least seem pretty obvious that Richardson won't be ready for the start of the season. Does that mean one of James Anderson, Tony Wroten or even Royce White starts next to Evan Turner on the wing Opening Night? Hello, Lucy. Didn't expect to see you here so soon.

Keep in mind the Sixers still haven't officially entered free agency, which remains delightful on every level.

If I'm J-Rich, I don't know that I see the point in staying out a while. If he wants to get another contract after this one (player option for next season), he's going to have to play. We'll see what happens. If he thinks he's got some years left in him, I wouldn't be surprised if he terminated early and became a free agent. He's made his money, maybe he'd turn down a few million to play for a team next season that has double-digit wins in their gameplan.

But we're a long way from that just yet.