Austin Rivers

[Ogaju]

Yeah Doc is looking smart on this one.

Danny is not looking very smart on this one.

Austin Rivers has proved that ultimate human reality that getting your leg in the door is almost as important as been competent at what you do. As more African Americans get in position of power they can start enjoying some of the benefits of nepotism that has long eluded them. How about that for a larger social commentary on this issue. If Austin did not have friends in high places he could very well be on his way out of the league instead of starring for his father in the playoffs. Nice story for Austin, I wish him well. Still do not like his dad.

[JBcat]

Well he seems to have found himself at least as a scoring backup PG, but in the end we got Thomas without giving up that much.  If Thomas or even Bradley for that matter with Smart moving to SG are part of a bigger trade I would gladly look at Rivers this offseason.

[blink]

In spite of the pink warning that I got when I opened this reply, I thought it would be interesting to bump this thread.  The opinions ranged from "there are better guards than Rivers in D-League" and "he is the worst guard in the league" to "we should keep him and see what Stevens can do with him".

The headline today on ESPN is "Austin Rivers propels Clippers past Rockets to Game 3 victory".  25 points on 10-13 shooting.  Wow.  Who saw that coming? (not me that is for sure)  Not bad for the worst guard in the NBA. 

Does this mean Doc is smarter than all of us?

Do we conclude now that Danny botched this and we should have kept him?

Doc must have seen something and decided he was not going to let his son flame out of the league without making sure he had a full opportunity to prove himself.  He must not have thought he was getting that chance in NO.  I also think Danny did this as a favor to Doc.  This has become a very interesting story.

I don't think this says much really about Danny or Doc.  It is interesting how negative the feelings for Austin got on this site.  Who knows if a few games in the playoffs are enough to turn around his career?  But after all the talk about being a complete bust, it is good to see some of that potential everyone saw at Duke.

[saltlover]

It seems like a trade that worked for both teams.

Danny got a second-round pick for an expiring contract.  Doc got bench help for the playoffs.  It's not like Austin Rivers was going to win us even a game vs. Cleveland.  It worked for both teams, which is how trades are supposed to work.  It's not about winning and losing trades, unless you're opposite Billy King.  Then you'd better win.

[Rondo9]

So one good game and everyone is gushing over him? Don't forget he also had that bad turnover in game 2.

[Rosco917]

IMO Austin came out of college too early. He was very immature coming out, a way to over confident, and unrealistic as to what his skill set was, and how it was going to transcend into the NBA. After all, NBA pro's have been telling him how great he was since he was 14. That "fish" story just kept getting bigger and bigger.

Danny never should have just sent him back to the Clippers for a second round pick. He should have taken a look first, gotten CBS to at least take a look, to see what he could do. It was strictly Danny doing Doc a favor, by throwing the son a much needed life preserver.

Austin is starting to develop now under his father's watchful eye, I wonder what will happen if it ever gets time to trade him?

 

[jpotter33]

So one good game and everyone is gushing over him? Don't forget he also had that bad turnover in game 2.

Haha exactly what I was thinking. I knew people would be gushing over him after one or two good games. Let's not forget that he's also being mainly guarded by Harden and/or Terry, which will obviously make him look much better than he is!

[Future Celtics Owner]

Almost everybody in the NBA has the ability to "go off" on any night.

[MBunge]

Everybody can look good for a stretch of games.  I suspect the slightly better Austin Rivers we saw in LA during the regular season is closer to reality than the much better version we've seen in the playoffs.

It would be nice, however, if Rivers' performance would cool off some of the hot takes around here about how Player X sucks but Player Y is great.

Mike

[KeepRondo]

Well he certainly is not garbage which was what a number of posters called him.

He's also not a solid player yet. He has to work on his handle and playing with more purpose.

[Rondo9]

Oh fine! I would gladly trade Smart for Rivers then.

[Celtics18]

Austin Rivers is still 22 years old.  I'm happy to see him have some success.

The truth is that the start to his NBA career hasn't been as awful as many have been making it out to be.

I think he was under more intense scrutiny than most because of who his dad is.

[byennie]

Good on him if he truly makes a leap in his career, but I don't see any actual evidence that he is better than the player that has been below average for 200+ games. His per-40 averages are about 14-4-4, and he has yet to crack 49 TS% in 3 seasons. He shoots under 30% from 3PT and 70% from the line. Every now and then he drops 20+ on a good night but it's nothing new.

Offensively he's about Avery Bradley level, maybe. Defensively he's nothing special. Not a great combo.

[byennie]

Austin Rivers is still 22 years old.  I'm happy to see him have some success.

The truth is that the start to his NBA career hasn't been as awful as many have been making it out to be.

I think he was under more intense scrutiny than most because of who his dad is.

I'd agree but with a slight twist- he was overrated coming out of high school because of his dad, and drafted too high as an extension of that pedigree. He should have been more like a late 1st-rounder instead of the 10th pick. If he goes 25th without a famous father, he definitely would be judged differently. He didn't play like a lottery pick at Duke and he hasn't played like one in the NBA. It's all relative I suppose.

[Vox_Populi]

So one good game and everyone is gushing over him? Don't forget he also had that bad turnover in game 2.

It's not exactly just one good game. He was very good in Game 4 vs. San Antonio (16 points on 7-8) and he played decently in Game 1 vs Houston (17 points with 4-6 from 3).