Clippers Re-Sign Austin Rivers to $35M Over 3 Years

[clipperlover]

THE definition of "journeyman." Got 11 years in the NBA, qualified for his pension, made $50M, and out of the league by age 30. Not bad for a failure. May we all fail so well.


Doc was scapegoated for the failure of Lob City. And his [only slight IMO] favoritism toward Austin was part of it.

Yes, CP and BG thought Doc wasn't as hard on Austin as he was on the other players. OTOH, Austin was a bust when the Clips traded fellow bust Reggie Bullock and an undisclosed amount of trash for him. Austin came into the NBA as a lottery pick [#10] and was a complete disaster with NOLA, who drafted him. And I don't feel like looking it up, but I bet he was a disaster off the court too.

What Austin needed was positive re-inforcement, and his dad gave it to him, and Austin DID become a legit NBA rotation player here on the Clippers. When Doc was finally obliged to dump him because of team and organizational politics, Austin was averaging 15 ppg on 42%/38% shooting and a career-high 4 apg.

Oh yeah, we got Gortat in return. LOL. Dumped later in mid-season. Marcin, bless his heart, was one of the worst Clippers ever.

Doc is a dead issue. Long gone. I'm talking about Austin Rivers here:

______________________________________________

I don't think Austin ever enjoyed a day he played in the NBA. He was handed a job, he took it, was paid an insane amount of money to do it, and now that the money's in the bank, I bet he's enjoying this 30,000-foot level looking down on it all and commenting and sharing his inside knowledge of how the game works. How The Game works.

Austin Rivers can still get out on an NBA floor and be completely adequate, neither helping nor hurting you, which is better than 50% of the people drawing NBA salaries. Make me an offer. The NBA minimum still pays more than doing podcasts with Bill Simmons.

I'm not trying to revive the Doc Rivers wars. PLEASE. It is what it is. Austin never took minutes from anybody more deserving on the Clippers. He even played well sometimes, and if he didn't earn his paycheck--which came in the weird paycheck inflation summer of 2016*--he never cheated us either.

Austin seems happier now than I've ever seen him. He is finally able to be who he is, not what everyone expects him to be. Mazel tov.

IMO, this SHOULD be the most iconic image in Clipper history. It's a shame so much baggage is attached.

_________________________________________
* https://medium.com/has-been-sports/the-nbas-big-short-the-summer-of-2016

Come on now. Let's make sure we tell the correct history.

1. Silver Spoon was on his way to being cut and available on a 10 day contract. Instead,the Clippers unnecessarily traded assets to obtain Spoon.

The only person that benefited was Spoon. We traded Bullock, Douglas-Roberts and a 2nd round pick to obtain a guy that was going to be cut by Boston. Spoon's Daddy couldn't live with that embarrassment, so he overpaid.

January 15, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, traded by the Boston Celtics to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 2nd round draft pick (Jabari Bird was later selected) to the Boston Celtics; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns; and the Phoenix Suns traded Shavlik Randolph to the Boston Celtics.

July 13, 2015: Signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Because the Clippers traded for him, he was able to have Bird Rights and then they were able to overpay for him in the Summer of 2015 rather than signing him for the proper minimum salary. He was paid 3 times more than he would have received by getting the minimum at the time (~$1M).

2. Spoon made more in his 2016 contract than T Mann makes now. Because he was WAY overpaid, there were secondary impacts to the other people on the roster, so we had to overpay for them also.

It was bad enough Spoon's dad was giving him unearned time over other players, but overpaying him had impacts to the salary cap.

If Spoon had been signed to a 10 day contract and earned his playing time, then most fans could have stomached it. His undeserved over payment and playing time ruined team morale.

Nice story for Rivers haters. Little of it is true, though.

Austin didn't affect the salary cap--the Clippers were capped out in that crazy summer of 2016--where EVERYBODY got overpaid. The Clippers could only re-sign their own free agents. It was either pay the overpriced market rate for Jamal and Austin or fill the roster with whoever was available at the NBA minimum. He averaged 12 ppg on 44%/37% shooting that year, and didn't take minutes from anybody. The next best guard was the forgettable Raymond Felton, who still got 21 minutes a game.

As for Bullock, he was useless. He ended up playing 11 games for the Suns, averaged 0.4 points a game, and was dumped for a second-rounder on the Pistons. Austin was far more useful to the Clippers. He even averaged 15 points a game his last year here.

What isn't true?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327692-austin-rivers-trade-rumors-latest-updates-and-speculation-on-celtics-guard

Clips had to off-load salary and included a pick to get Spoon. Celtics also got a $2.4M trade exception. Celtics acquired Rivers from NOP as trade filler and had no intentions of keeping him. They didn't even keep Prince who they used later to get Isaiah Thomas.

Clips retained Spoon in the Summer of 2015 for more than he was worth. Not only did they pay, but they gave him a 1 +1 deal which included a PLAYER option. Please find me guys that were that close to the 10 day contract line that were re-signed and given a "Player" option. You likely won't be able to because their dad wasn't doing the negotiation.

There is also this nugget from 2015: Bobby Marks: The Rivers signing bumps LAC tax bill from $10m to $15m. Essentially $3.1m in salary + $5m in tax. Tax bill could still go down.
8 years ago – via Twitter BobbyMarks42

Reggie Bullock earned his way from the scrap heap to being a starter on Conference Finals team. He also has 110 more career starts in ~200 less games. Spoon's dad saved him from the scrap heap and used Ballmer's money multiple times to give him more money than he deserved. Over half of Spoon's career starts were gifted to him by his father. So, his father used Ballmer's roster spots in an effort to bolster his son's career at the expense of more deserving players.

[MartinToVaught]

Another big difference: Austin (-4.5 career VORP) has been a below-replacement-level player his entire career, no matter what team he's on, what role he's playing, or how many minutes he gets. Bullock (+2.6 career VORP) has not.

Austin would have never lasted this long in the league if his last name wasn't Rivers. He would have been playing in Europe at best after his rookie contract was up. Instead GM/Coach Dad stepped in to bail out his career with one of the most selfish moves in sports history, completely destroying the team in the process.

[esqtvd]

Come on now. Let's make sure we tell the correct history.

1. Silver Spoon was on his way to being cut and available on a 10 day contract. Instead,the Clippers unnecessarily traded assets to obtain Spoon.

The only person that benefited was Spoon. We traded Bullock, Douglas-Roberts and a 2nd round pick to obtain a guy that was going to be cut by Boston. Spoon's Daddy couldn't live with that embarrassment, so he overpaid.

January 15, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, traded by the Boston Celtics to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 2nd round draft pick (Jabari Bird was later selected) to the Boston Celtics; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns; and the Phoenix Suns traded Shavlik Randolph to the Boston Celtics.

July 13, 2015: Signed a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Because the Clippers traded for him, he was able to have Bird Rights and then they were able to overpay for him in the Summer of 2015 rather than signing him for the proper minimum salary. He was paid 3 times more than he would have received by getting the minimum at the time (~$1M).

2. Spoon made more in his 2016 contract than T Mann makes now. Because he was WAY overpaid, there were secondary impacts to the other people on the roster, so we had to overpay for them also.

It was bad enough Spoon's dad was giving him unearned time over other players, but overpaying him had impacts to the salary cap.

If Spoon had been signed to a 10 day contract and earned his playing time, then most fans could have stomached it. His undeserved over payment and playing time ruined team morale.

Nice story for Rivers haters. Little of it is true, though.

Austin didn't affect the salary cap--the Clippers were capped out in that crazy summer of 2016--where EVERYBODY got overpaid. The Clippers could only re-sign their own free agents. It was either pay the overpriced market rate for Jamal and Austin or fill the roster with whoever was available at the NBA minimum. He averaged 12 ppg on 44%/37% shooting that year, and didn't take minutes from anybody. The next best guard was the forgettable Raymond Felton, who still got 21 minutes a game.

As for Bullock, he was useless. He ended up playing 11 games for the Suns, averaged 0.4 points a game, and was dumped for a second-rounder on the Pistons. Austin was far more useful to the Clippers. He even averaged 15 points a game his last year here.

What isn't true?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327692-austin-rivers-trade-rumors-latest-updates-and-speculation-on-celtics-guard

Clips had to off-load salary and included a pick to get Spoon. Celtics also got a $2.4M trade exception. Celtics acquired Rivers from NOP as trade filler and had no intentions of keeping him. They didn't even keep Prince who they used later to get Isaiah Thomas.

Clips retained Spoon in the Summer of 2015 for more than he was worth. Not only did they pay, but they gave him a 1 +1 deal which included a PLAYER option. Please find me guys that were that close to the 10 day contract line that were re-signed and given a "Player" option. You likely won't be able to because their dad wasn't doing the negotiation.

There is also this nugget from 2015: Bobby Marks: The Rivers signing bumps LAC tax bill from $10m to $15m. Essentially $3.1m in salary + $5m in tax. Tax bill could still go down.
8 years ago – via Twitter BobbyMarks42

Reggie Bullock earned his way from the scrap heap to being a starter on Conference Finals team. He also has 110 more career starts in ~200 less games. Spoon's dad saved him from the scrap heap and used Ballmer's money multiple times to give him more money than he deserved. Over half of Spoon's career starts were gifted to him by his father. So, his father used Ballmer's roster spots in an effort to bolster his son's career at the expense of more deserving players.

Asked and answered. The Clippers could either overpay for Jamal and Austin in that crazy summer of 2016 or sign minimum players. Indeed they had to do both--they still had to give serious minutes to minimum wagers Raymond Felton and Marreese Speights. Too much money tied up in the Big Three, especially DJ.

Dan Woike: Austin Rivers said he had a meeting with the Knicks and interest from POR and HOU. Said money was the same pretty much across the board

I don't really care if people believe him or not. Even if he was lying, the Clippers either had to meet his price or sign a minimum wager off the street. He was just turning 24 and had put up career highs with the Clippers. It was not a bad bet, especially after that heroic performance in the playoffs.

The enduring image of Rivers from the 2015-16 season, and perhaps his NBA career, came in the first quarter of Game 6 of the Clippers' first-round playoff loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Rivers received an inadvertent elbow to the face from Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu and fell to the court while blood flowed.

Rivers received stitches for multiple cuts around his eye, but he returned to the game and finished with 21 points and eight assists.

And Bullock didn't do squat for Phoenix, who immediately off-loaded him. Then it took 3 more years for him to start to contribute in Detroit. Clippers were in win-now mode and Bullock was simply not ready to help--and wouldn't be for years.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bullore01.html

Indeed, Austin scored 15 ppg in his last year with the Clippers. Bullock still hasn't scored more than 12.1. The career numbers for either one aren't relevant. Even though Bullock's are better than Austin's [who was largely crap after leaving the Clippers], it's totally irrelevant to the Clippers' situation in 2016.

[clipperlover]

Nice story for Rivers haters. Little of it is true, though.

Austin didn't affect the salary cap--the Clippers were capped out in that crazy summer of 2016--where EVERYBODY got overpaid. The Clippers could only re-sign their own free agents. It was either pay the overpriced market rate for Jamal and Austin or fill the roster with whoever was available at the NBA minimum. He averaged 12 ppg on 44%/37% shooting that year, and didn't take minutes from anybody. The next best guard was the forgettable Raymond Felton, who still got 21 minutes a game.

As for Bullock, he was useless. He ended up playing 11 games for the Suns, averaged 0.4 points a game, and was dumped for a second-rounder on the Pistons. Austin was far more useful to the Clippers. He even averaged 15 points a game his last year here.

What isn't true?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327692-austin-rivers-trade-rumors-latest-updates-and-speculation-on-celtics-guard

Clips had to off-load salary and included a pick to get Spoon. Celtics also got a $2.4M trade exception. Celtics acquired Rivers from NOP as trade filler and had no intentions of keeping him. They didn't even keep Prince who they used later to get Isaiah Thomas.

Clips retained Spoon in the Summer of 2015 for more than he was worth. Not only did they pay, but they gave him a 1 +1 deal which included a PLAYER option. Please find me guys that were that close to the 10 day contract line that were re-signed and given a "Player" option. You likely won't be able to because their dad wasn't doing the negotiation.

There is also this nugget from 2015: Bobby Marks: The Rivers signing bumps LAC tax bill from $10m to $15m. Essentially $3.1m in salary + $5m in tax. Tax bill could still go down.
8 years ago – via Twitter BobbyMarks42

Reggie Bullock earned his way from the scrap heap to being a starter on Conference Finals team. He also has 110 more career starts in ~200 less games. Spoon's dad saved him from the scrap heap and used Ballmer's money multiple times to give him more money than he deserved. Over half of Spoon's career starts were gifted to him by his father. So, his father used Ballmer's roster spots in an effort to bolster his son's career at the expense of more deserving players.

Asked and answered. The Clippers could either overpay for Jamal and Austin in that crazy summer of 2016 or sign minimum players. Indeed they had to do both--they still had to give serious minutes to minimum wagers Raymond Felton and Marreese Speights. Too much money tied up in the Big Three, especially DJ.

Dan Woike: Austin Rivers said he had a meeting with the Knicks and interest from POR and HOU. Said money was the same pretty much across the board

I don't really care if people believe him or not. Even if he was lying, the Clippers either had to meet his price or sign a minimum wager off the street. He was just turning 24 and had put up career highs with the Clippers. It was not a bad bet, especially after that heroic performance in the playoffs.


And Bullock didn't do squat for Phoenix, who immediately off-loaded him. Then it took 3 more years for him to start to contribute in Detroit. Clippers were in win-now mode and Bullock was simply not ready to help--and wouldn't be for years.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bullore01.html

Indeed, Austin scored 15 ppg in his last year with the Clippers. Bullock still hasn't scored more than 12.1. The career numbers for either one aren't relevant. Even though Bullock's are better than Austin's [who was largely crap after leaving the Clippers], it's totally irrelevant to the Clippers' situation in 2016.

You keep going back to the summer of 2016. The problem started in the Summer of 2015 which allowed him to have a player option to exercise in 2016. I know you probably don't want to address that because there was no excuse for paying him more than the league minimum in the summer of 2015, nor was there any reason he should have been given a player option as a player that was not an integral part of any roster.

It was all done by his dad to give his son a chance he wasn't giving other players. As far as 2016, they didn't have to pay him the money. He had an option and could have left. They could have signed and traded him if he was that valuable. He wasn't. They signed him first and that created all of secondary effects. He was such a non-integral part of the team to everyone other than his father, he should have been the last person signed. We weren't going to have any trouble finding a minimum replacement.

Spoon was force fed minutes at the expense of others and that is the only reason he averaged above double digits 2 times in his entire career. The fact we were in win now mode is the reason we shouldn't have been allowing Doc to play favoritism/nepotism with his son regarding roster spots,money and playing time.

[esqtvd]

What isn't true?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2327692-austin-rivers-trade-rumors-latest-updates-and-speculation-on-celtics-guard

Clips had to off-load salary and included a pick to get Spoon. Celtics also got a $2.4M trade exception. Celtics acquired Rivers from NOP as trade filler and had no intentions of keeping him. They didn't even keep Prince who they used later to get Isaiah Thomas.

Clips retained Spoon in the Summer of 2015 for more than he was worth. Not only did they pay, but they gave him a 1 +1 deal which included a PLAYER option. Please find me guys that were that close to the 10 day contract line that were re-signed and given a "Player" option. You likely won't be able to because their dad wasn't doing the negotiation.

There is also this nugget from 2015: Bobby Marks: The Rivers signing bumps LAC tax bill from $10m to $15m. Essentially $3.1m in salary + $5m in tax. Tax bill could still go down.
8 years ago – via Twitter BobbyMarks42

Reggie Bullock earned his way from the scrap heap to being a starter on Conference Finals team. He also has 110 more career starts in ~200 less games. Spoon's dad saved him from the scrap heap and used Ballmer's money multiple times to give him more money than he deserved. Over half of Spoon's career starts were gifted to him by his father. So, his father used Ballmer's roster spots in an effort to bolster his son's career at the expense of more deserving players.

Asked and answered. The Clippers could either overpay for Jamal and Austin in that crazy summer of 2016 or sign minimum players. Indeed they had to do both--they still had to give serious minutes to minimum wagers Raymond Felton and Marreese Speights. Too much money tied up in the Big Three, especially DJ.

Dan Woike: Austin Rivers said he had a meeting with the Knicks and interest from POR and HOU. Said money was the same pretty much across the board

I don't really care if people believe him or not. Even if he was lying, the Clippers either had to meet his price or sign a minimum wager off the street. He was just turning 24 and had put up career highs with the Clippers. It was not a bad bet, especially after that heroic performance in the playoffs.


And Bullock didn't do squat for Phoenix, who immediately off-loaded him. Then it took 3 more years for him to start to contribute in Detroit. Clippers were in win-now mode and Bullock was simply not ready to help--and wouldn't be for years.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bullore01.html

Indeed, Austin scored 15 ppg in his last year with the Clippers. Bullock still hasn't scored more than 12.1. The career numbers for either one aren't relevant. Even though Bullock's are better than Austin's [who was largely crap after leaving the Clippers], it's totally irrelevant to the Clippers' situation in 2016.

You keep going back to the summer of 2016. The problem started in the Summer of 2015 which allowed him to have a player option to exercise in 2016. I know you probably don't want to address that because there was no excuse for paying him more than the league minimum in the summer of 2015, nor was there any reason he should have been given a player option as a player that was not an integral part of any roster.

It was all done by his dad to give his son a chance he wasn't giving other players. As far as 2016, they didn't have to pay him the money. He had an option and could have left. They could have signed and traded him if he was that valuable. He wasn't. They signed him first and that created all of secondary effects. He was such a non-integral part of the team to everyone other than his father, he should have been the last person signed. We weren't going to have any trouble finding a minimum replacement.

Spoon was force fed minutes at the expense of others and that is the only reason he averaged above double digits 2 times in his entire career. The fact we were in win now mode is the reason we shouldn't have been allowing Doc to play favoritism/nepotism with his son regarding roster spots,money and playing time.

Asked and answered. Austin had career highs after joining the Clippers, was not yet 24 and had that inspiring game in the playoffs with one eye. He opted out, and cashed in just like every other FA did in the summer of 2016. The Clippers were over a barrel with Austin [who had other suitors] and Jamal. They'd have been screwed without them--even Raymond Felton ended up with 21 mpg. They won 51 games that year even with CP3 and Blake missing 20 games each. Then Blake got hurt in Game 3 of the first round and that was that.

You're not really arguing any facts, and not really responding to any facts I post. Austin sucked and didn't deserve the money and somebody else [anybody else] should got his minutes. Got it. You have had your say and I have had mine.

[MartinToVaught]

Austin had career highs after joining the Clippers

Because Doc gave up on any pretense of actually coaching the team and just focused on increasing Austin's stats. Not because Austin improved (he didn't) or was making the team better (he wasn't).

[esqtvd]

yes Austin sucked and didn't deserve the money and somebody else [anybody else] shoulda got his minutes. Got it.

[TrueLAfan]

We're going around in circles about a mid-level rotation player that played his last game with us five and half years ago. Thread locked.