The Official Austin Rivers Thread

[KGdaBom]

Gross. Yuck. Barf.

Why you hating? He was never one of my fave players, but he worked on his game and got better. IMO he's a great value for a minimum contract.

[younggunsmn]

Gross. Yuck. Barf.

Why you hating? He was never one of my fave players, but he worked on his game and got better. IMO he's a great value for a minimum contract.

I would rather watch Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen run a pick and roll.
That is how highly I value Austin Rivers.

He is below replacement level at literally every facet of the game.

There are approximately 469 other combo guards I would rather give the vet minimum and any minutes he plays are going to come at the expense of Nowell/Moore who we will need to become long term pieces after trading away all of our picks.

[KGdaBom]

Gross. Yuck. Barf.

Why you hating? He was never one of my fave players, but he worked on his game and got better. IMO he's a great value for a minimum contract.

I would rather watch Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen run a pick and roll.
That is how highly I value Austin Rivers.

He is below replacement level at literally every facet of the game.

There are approximately 469 other combo guards I would rather give the vet minimum and any minutes he plays are going to come at the expense of Nowell/Moore who we will need to become long term pieces after trading away all of our picks.

You have not been watching him play if you believe that stuff. He's pretty solid.

[Dewey]

I doubt he gets any playing time

Not a chance of that.

Keep in mind, Tim drafted him and had him in Denver. He wouldn't sign him if he thought he couldn't help.

We’ll stated

[winforlose]

I doubt he gets any playing time

Not a chance of that.

Keep in mind, Tim drafted him and had him in Denver. He wouldn't sign him if he thought he couldn't help.

We’ll stated

So who would you rather not get minutes, Nowell or JMAC? First line is clearly Ant and Dlo. I doubt we play 11 and feature Rivers, and if we do it will to be at the cost of minutes to one of those two. If Ant moves to the 3 you can play Rivers and one of the those two, but that takes Princes minutes. If they use Rivers in place of Nowell not only will we not develop Nowell, he will leave and find a team that will play him next year. If we push back JMAC (something I support,) then we move Nowell to PG2 (something I can support, but is not optimal,) and Rivers becomes SG2.

[Klomp]

Guys have off nights. Guys get in foul trouble. Guys get hurt.

Some matchups aren't made for certain players. That is why you add depth. If you think Nowell and McLaughlin have such bruised egos, you haven't been paying attention. Did you watch last year? Did you see how both guys stayed ready even in stretches where they weren't in the regular rotation because they had been struggling? As fans, have you become so jaded by the likes of Kurt Rambis and Ryan Saunders that you can't trust a very good coach in Chris Finch to handle things well?

[theGreatRC]

for the minimum, we have a band aid guard that can play defense and at least bring the ball up the court properly in case DLO/Jmac are hurt or are in foul trouble.

I think Nowell gets the PT that Beasley used to get, which is 25mpg. Nowell got 15mpg last year.

Mclaughlin got 15mpg last year as well, he will get more or either the same and Austin will get the leftover PG minutes.

Ant might get lead guard minutes with the second unit.

At this point, who even knows, it's fascinating to imagine what Finch is going to do with this team, there are so many players that can play multiple positions. The only one who really can't play any other position is Gobert, is is your center no matter what. Probably Mclaughlin too(he can only play PG)

DLO - PG/SG
Ant - PG-SF
Jaden- SF/PF (can guard 1-5 though)
KAT - PF/C
Rivers SG/PG
Forbes - SG/PG
Nowell - SG/PG
Anderson - SF/PF but can play point forward
Prince - SG-PF
Naz - PF/C

Very excited to even see who backs up who

[Dewey]

If there’s concern about Nowell or whoever losing pt and/or development due to adding guys like Rivers, Forbes, etc… then that tells me Nowell or whoever just are not that good. I don’t believe Rivers has a pt promise

[minimus]

If there’s concern about Nowell or whoever losing pt and/or development due to adding guys like Rivers, Forbes, etc… then that tells me Nowell or whoever just are not that good. I don’t believe Rivers has a pt promise

Yeah, the only concern Nowell should have is his defense. Nowell with improved defense is 6th man award candidate.

[Nick K]

Not a chance of that.

Keep in mind, Tim drafted him and had him in Denver. He wouldn't sign him if he thought he couldn't help.

We’ll stated

So who would you rather not get minutes, Nowell or JMAC? First line is clearly Ant and Dlo. I doubt we play 11 and feature Rivers, and if we do it will to be at the cost of minutes to one of those two. If Ant moves to the 3 you can play Rivers and one of the those two, but that takes Princes minutes. If they use Rivers in place of Nowell not only will we not develop Nowell, he will leave and find a team that will play him next year. If we push back JMAC (something I support,) then we move Nowell to PG2 (something I can support, but is not optimal,) and Rivers becomes SG2.

You really can't have enough good solid veteran players on your roster. I've loved Nowell from day 1 but he's going to have to deal with the heightened competition like the other guys. It will only make him a better player. Nowell is going to have to earn his PT like anybody else. Just being able to practice everyday against better players like we now have will only make us better.

Look at the size of our guards. None are under 6'4" are they? Well, maybe not Bryn Forbes. We have a ton of mix and match pieces to match up against anybody.

BTW, maybe Rudy makes Naz a better player/rebounder.

[Nick K]

for the minimum, we have a band aid guard that can play defense and at least bring the ball up the court properly in case DLO/Jmac are hurt or are in foul trouble.

I think Nowell gets the PT that Beasley used to get, which is 25mpg. Nowell got 15mpg last year.

Mclaughlin got 15mpg last year as well, he will get more or either the same and Austin will get the leftover PG minutes.

Ant might get lead guard minutes with the second unit.

At this point, who even knows, it's fascinating to imagine what Finch is going to do with this team, there are so many players that can play multiple positions. The only one who really can't play any other position is Gobert, is is your center no matter what. Probably Mclaughlin too(he can only play PG)

DLO - PG/SG
Ant - PG-SF
Jaden- SF/PF (can guard 1-5 though)
KAT - PF/C
Rivers SG/PG
Forbes - SG/PG
Nowell - SG/PG
Anderson - SF/PF but can play point forward
Prince - SG-PF
Naz - PF/C

Very excited to even see who backs up who

It will be great fun seeing how Finch puts it all together. I can see us throw a 2nd unit out there of Rivers, Nowell, Forbes, KA and Rudy for the teams that want to go small against us.

Then you have Moore and J Mac. Both will really have to work for their minutes. Moore and Minott could probably use some G league time.

Will we still have Nathan Knight on a two-way deal too?

[MN7725]

If there’s concern about Nowell or whoever losing pt and/or development due to adding guys like Rivers, Forbes, etc… then that tells me Nowell or whoever just are not that good. I don’t believe Rivers has a pt promise

i wouldn't think so either, but he was basically the 7th man on a 48 win team last year, albeit an injury riddled team


either way, he's fine as long as he's put in a proper role and accepts it

been a decent catch/shoot 3pter in his career, competes hard defensively

if he's in more of a playmaker, creator role, then your team usually has problems

[winforlose]

Saw on Hoopshype that only 650,000 is guaranteed until January. This provides Lawson an even more open on ramp. Also means if we don’t like roster construction we can let him go and grab someone in the buy out market.

[KGdaBom]

Saw on Hoopshype that only 650,000 is guaranteed until January. This provides Lawson an even more open on ramp. Also means if we don’t like roster construction we can let him go and grab someone in the buy out market.

Kudos to you for digging up that tidbit.

[Klomp]

Feels like this thread needs to be bumped

[minimus]

Fells like I owe him an apology

[TimberKat]

Fells like I owe him an apology

What an amazing transform. He couldn't do anything right before this stretch. I wish Nowell and Forbes could do the same - play some D and get back to career avg on 3s.

[minimus]

Two questions: first, is it technically possible to offer Austin Rivers a 8mil/2yr extension? Second question, would you offer him this type of extension?

[minimus]

Two questions: first, is it technically possible to offer Austin Rivers a 8mil/2yr extension? Second question, would you offer him this type of extension?

I'd offer Rivers a new contract right after trade deadline, just like we did with Beverley. He is not PoA defender we need, he is not PG we need, but I love his effort and his leadership.

[Klomp]

Two questions: first, is it technically possible to offer Austin Rivers a 8mil/2yr extension? Second question, would you offer him this type of extension?

I'd offer Rivers a new contract right after trade deadline, just like we did with Beverley. He is not PoA defender we need, he is not PG we need, but I love his effort and his leadership.

It is NOT possible. Beverley was on a longer contract. Yes, it was only one year remaining when we got him, but contracts have to be for 3 years in order to be extension-eligible.