The San Antonio Spurs have released Ryan Richards.

Richards was drafted in the second round by the Spurs in 2010.

The Spurs' camp roster now stands at 19.

Tim Duncan made an appearance at the San Antonio Spurs' training camp workout on Wednesday.

Duncan's role within the franchise remains unclear now that he's retired.

"When I got done arguing with him about why he's been fined for not showing up the last few days, we got that out of the way first. Most people under contract are required to show up for their jobs," Gregg Popovich said jokingly. "He said he didn't have a contract. But I told him I thought we had a verbal contract, and I thought that was just as good as written. We're having a tough time right now, the two of us, trying to get him straight. He's always been tough to manage, especially so now that he's retired."

Duncan served as a spectator as the club scrimmaged Wednesday and could be seen conversing with former teammates as they took part in an after-practice shootaround.

Popovich mentioned Monday that Duncan would remain involved with the team and joked that he would be "the coach of whatever he feels like." Popovich said there is no room for Duncan on the bench during game situations and joked that he's "too smart for that" anyway.

Like Popovich, R.C. Buford said Duncan's role will be "whatever he decides it to be." But first, the Spurs would like Duncan to adjust to life after basketball, while finding the niche in which he's most comfortable.

"I think he's learning about life after playing," Buford said. "And he can impact us in so many ways. I think we need to sit back and get a better understanding of how he feels like he wants to fit in and what works for his family. Then we'll figure it out from there. But the gym feels better when he's in it."

R.C. Buford and the San Antonio Spurs lost Tim Duncan to retirement to headline an offseason with a considerable amount of roster turnover.

“It was a lonely summer,” he said. “I thought I must have made somebody mad. But I’m excited about our new group. We’ve got some really terrific people who have joined our organization and there’s a great opportunity to grow together.”

Buford and the Spurs did re-sign Manu Ginobili to a one-year, $14 million deal.

“To have had to replace them both at the same time would have been even more impactful than when each one decides to leave as individuals,” Buford said. “I don’t know how you judge that or gauge that other than that we know there is a transition approaching for our organization and it will be better if it’s a more managed transition than if it all happens at the same time.”

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated (@RobMahoney) and Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer (@JonathanTjarks) break down the Southwest Division.

In the offseason review, they pick who got better and worse, discuss notable moves (9:06), choose the Southwest’s best newcomer (32:09) and pick the rookies they are most excited to see (39:13).

In the season preview, they rank the teams 1-5 (45:39), predict how many playoff teams will come out of the Central (50:31), choose breakout players (59:46) and much more.

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Matt Bonner wants to continue his playing career this season despite remaining a free agent.

“I’m going to fight to get into the league,” Bonner told the Concord Monitor. “I’m going to fight to play one more year.”

Bonner is 36 and his goal has always been to play until he's 40.

“There’s been interest, but nothing concrete,” Bonner said. “A lot of teams are like, ‘We like Matt, we just don’t have a roster space right now, but if anything changes, he’s in the mix.’ There’s a long way to go until opening night, so I’m remaining optimistic.”

Bonner is unlikely to re-sign with the Spurs regardless.

Joel Anthony and the San Antonio Spurs are finalizing a training camp deal.

Anthony spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Pistons, then waived him in July before signing Boban Marjanovic.

Anthony adds more veteran frontcourt depth for the Spurs, who will enter camp with LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Dewayne Dedmon, and David Lee as the only other experienced big men on the roster.

Anthony has averaged 2.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in nine seasons, including stints with Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

The San Antonio Spurs have hired Phil Cullen as director of basketball strategy and Pat Sund has been named pro personnel scout/Austin Spurs assistant general manager.

Nick Repole joins the Spurs as director of basketball of basketball information systems while Landry Fields has been named a college scout.

Cullen joins the Spurs after spending the past four seasons at the University of Utah where he served as the team’s director of basketball operations during the 2015-16 season.  Prior to that, Cullen spent three seasons as the Utes director of player development and camps, following a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University.

Sund has signed on with the Spurs after having spent the past seven seasons with the Golden State Warriors organization, including the last two as associate general manager of the Santa Cruz Warriors and manager of scouting for Golden State. Sund originally joined the organization as a basketball operations assistant prior to the 2009-10 campaign after graduating from Indiana University with a degree in sports marketing and management.  

Repole comes to San Antonio from the Charlotte Hornets, where he served as the basketball operations systems developer and quantitative analyst for the past two seasons. Prior to joining the Hornets, the University of Michigan graduate was an associate product development specialist for Eagle Investment Systems.

Fields joins the Spurs after a five-year NBA playing career. An All-Rookie First Team Selection in 2011, Fields averaged 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 23.6 minutes in 255 career games with the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.

The San Antonio Spurs have hired Brian Wright as assistant general manager.

Wright joins the Spurs after spending the past two seasons as the Detroit Pistons assistant general manager.

Prior to his stint with the Pistons, Wright spent eight seasons with the Orlando Magic, serving as the director of college scouting in his final season. Wright began his career with the Magic as a summer intern in 2006 and was hired as the scouting coordinator prior to the 2006-07 season. He also served as scouting manager and spent the 2012-13 season as the team scouting/player development manager. Wright attended graduate school at the University of Central Florida, earning an MBA and master’s in sports business management from the DeVos Sports Business Management Program.

Prior to his time at UCF, he played basketball at La Sierra University.

Monty Williams has been hired by the San Antonio Spurs has vice president of basketball operations.

Williams returns to San Antonio for his second stint with the Spurs. After a nine-year NBA playing career, including two-plus seasons with the Spurs, Williams got his start in the front office and coaching while serving as a coaching intern during the 2004-05 campaign.

Last season, Williams served as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder until the passing of his wife. 

Prior to joining the Thunder he was the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans from 2010-2015, guiding the Pelicans to the postseason twice. Before his time in New Orleans, he spent five seasons as an assistant coach on the Portland Trail Blazers’ bench. In 2013, he was named an assistant coach for the 2013-16 USA Basketball Men’s National Team. He earned a degree from Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, majoring in communications and theatre.

Gregg Popovich will have to adjust this season to not having one of the greatest power forwards of all-time in his lineup with the San Antonio Spurs.

“He’s gone,” Popovich said this week. “I’ve put it out of my mind.”

The Spurs signed Pau Gasol to help replace Duncan.

“Same culture, same philosophy,” Popovich said. “I only know what I know. We’ll hang our hat on defense. We just don’t have the greatest power forward of all-time playing for us anymore.”

Popovich told Duncan to stick around the team as much as he wants.

“If he wants to go on a scouting trip, fine. If he wants his own station in training camp, he has it. He’s in charge. He can tell me exactly what he wants to do. But I’m not paying him a penny.”

One anecdote that captures the nature of Popovich's relationship with Duncan is how he would order a small carrot cake to go when he was eating out on road trips to leave at Duncan's hotel door knowing how much he loved that dessert.