7-foot import boards Dyip

MANILA, Philippines — The sky’s the limit for imports in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup starting Nov. 27 and with no height restriction, the door is wide open for towering giants to storm the hardcourt. The latest colossus to sign up for the second conference is 7-foot Ryan Richards who’s arriving Monday to play for Terrafirma. Among the men mountain in the list of imports are NorthPort’s 6-11 Kavell Bigby-Williams, Phoenix’ 6-10 Donovan Smith, NLEX’ 6-11 Ed Davis, Converge’s 6-9 Cheick Diallo and Magnolia’s 6-8 Ricardo Ratliffe.

Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said he’s still awaiting confirmation from import candidates. “We’re looking for quality bigs, preferably close to seven-feet but they’re more expensive,” he said. “You really have to pay more for quality bigs and no luck so far.”

Richards, 33, is coming from Japan and arrives with a loaded resumé, having played in 20 countries. He was the San Antonio Spurs’ second-round draft pick in 2010. Smith, 30, has seen action in Spain, Romania, Georgia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Austria and Kosovo. He was on the Kosovo team that won the Balkan League title this year.

Bigby-Williams, 29, played a season each at the University of Oregon and Louisiana State University then barnstormed Italy, Belgium, Poland, Dominican Republic, France, Venezuela, Taiwan, Mexico and Libya. Bigby-Williams is of Jamaican and Dominica descent and is former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis’ cousin.

Davis, 35, was on the University of North Carolina squad that won the NCAA crown in 2009. He was Toronto’s first-round pick in 2010 and played for the Raptors, Memphis, LA Lakers, Portland, Brooklyn, Utah, Minnesota and Cleveland in 12 NBA seasons, earning $47.2 million. Davis has also played in Puerto Rico and China. His father Terry was an NBA player from 1989 to 2001. Guest team Hong Kong Eastern will be bannered by 6-10 Canadian Chris McLaughlin who has played for the squad since 2019 so chemistry is a positive with Bosnian coach Mensur Bajramovic.