Los Angeles Clippers’ Free Agents: Who Should Stay And Who Should Go
Austin Rivers
I’m not sure if any fringe-rotation player in the league is more talked about or maligned than Austin Rivers. As the son of his coach and GM, a former Duke Blue Devil, and a bit of a chucker, he’s the perfect target for folks on Twitter looking for a few laughs and retweets. Even teammate Blake Griffin got in on the Austin Rivers jokes.
On the court, he’s a shoot-first, pass-last combo guard who has a hard time staying in front of his man. Those qualities don’t do much to excite Clipper fans on a few more years of the Austin Rivers experience, but you could describe fan-favorite Jamal Crawford with those same words. Right now, Rivers is a very poor man’s Jamal Crawford with the potential to be a decent imitation. After a few years of failing to live up to his name and the lottery pick he was taken with, Rivers started to show flashes of what he can be in the playoffs.
Rivers played a vital role in the Clippers’ win in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs in their thrilling first round victory over the defending champs, scoring 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. His highlight of the playoffs and of his career is his Game 3 against the Houston Rockets. Rivers poured in 25 points in only 23 minutes on 10-of-13 shooting that earned himself a standing ovation at Staples Center when he exited the game.
To be fair, he also shot 6-of-23 in the final three games of the Rockets’ series, all three Clipper losses. Like many other streaky players in the league, there’s Good Austin Rivers and there’s Bad Austin Rivers. He’s also a “tweener” at the guard position, too small to defend most other shooting guards and too trigger-happy to run an offense. He was so disappointing early on for the Pelicans, who drafted him 10th overall pick in 2012, that they declined to pick up his fourth-year option worth only $3.1 million.
More from LA Clippers
- NBA Trades: This wild Mavs, Clippers, and 76ers deal must happen ASAP
- Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title
- Can the Clippers realistically sign Chris Paul after shocking waive news?
- NBA Rumors: This playoff team is now the leader to land Westbrook
- NBA Rumors: Westbrook may have played his final game for the Clippers
If the Pelicans could re-do it, they’d most likely pick up his fourth-year option and see if the 22-year old could continue to grow into a consistently solid rotation player before signing him to another deal. The Clippers don’t have that option now and can re-sign him for no more than the $3.1 million option he would’ve received under the final year of his rookie deal.
The reason the Clippers should bring him back is because of the flashes he showed in a few playoff games. For a team loaded with veterans and unlikely to be in position to add much youth to the roster, Rivers is a 22-year-old who still has his best days ahead of him.
Jamal Crawford will be 36 by the time the playoffs come around next year and is due to show some signs of decline in the near future. Retaining Rivers could transition into Crawford’s role as a scorer off the bench as soon as next year, or at the least he could make Crawford more expendable in a trade for a team with few trade assets.
Next: Glen Davis