The Time Is Now For Austin Rivers

It must not always be easy to be Austin Rivers. His dad, Doc Rivers (I’m sure you are aware) was a respectable NBA point guard over 14 seasons, making his name playing alongside Dominique Wilkins with the Atlanta Hawks.

If that wasn’t enough for Austin to live up with (I think he is pleading for help in the photo above), Doc has also become one of this generations best coaches — often prompting popular ESPN First Take pundit Stephen A. Smith to call him “a leader of men.”

Based on poor Austin’s first two NBA campaigns, he is not making things easier for himself.

After being selected 10th overall in the 2012 draft (the same draft in which Anthony Davis was selected) Rivers faced lofty expectations to potentially become an All-Star type player. He showcased a rare “clutch gene” in his memorable performance against the rival North Carolina Tar Heels during his short tenure at Duke.

He was a national YouTube sensation thanks to his high school mixtapes, and certain analysts believed his game was more suited for the NBA rather than college.

Instead of taking the league by storm, Rivers has underwhelmed, has been often injured and has lacked the proper scoring instincts to be a contributor in New Orleans. His rookie season was a forgettable one, scoring only 6.2 points per game on a ghastly 37 percent shooting from the field while struggling to get on the floor consistently for a struggling Pelicans team.

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Last season, optimistic fans believed Rivers would put his rookie season behind him and become a bench scoring asset. In some way this true, given that Rivers raised his scoring average to 7.7 ppg while shooting 41 percent from the field. However, Rivers only started four games compared to 26 in his rookie season.

Much of this can be attributed to the additions of Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday, which has created a traffic jam of sorts for Rivers to enter the starting lineup.

It also does not help matters that the Pelicans have brought in Jimmer Fredette this offseason to essentially play his position. Another red flag to add to the development of Rivers.

For these reasons, I could envision the Pelicans looking to shop Rivers during the season for future assets. A team like the Dallas Mavericks comes to mind as they are notorious for turning one team’s screw up into their own crown jewel. Monta Ellis‘ comeback season is the latest example of this.

Fans should not give up yet on Rivers by any means, he is still a young player (only 22 years old) and has a long way to go in his career. It just seems as though that he was drafted by the wrong team. General manager Dell Demps has seemingly admitted that fact by signing players that play similar positions.

The light has not dimmed on Rivers’ future as a player, but maybe just as a Pelican. Stay tuned.