4 Christmas gifts for the Memphis Grizzlies
4. Anything that’s not Austin Rivers
The Phoenix Suns recently released Austin Rivers, and the first team rumored to pick him up was the Grizzlies, which they were until they weren’t:
Now hearing from a source that the Grizzlies will not be signing Austin Rivers.
— Chris Herrington (@ChrisHerrington) December 18, 2018
We’ve seen this happen before with the Grizzlies this year, where they were “about to sign Joakim Noah” for roughly 450 weeks. Do the Grizzlies need Austin Rivers? I’m going to go with no, they don’t.
I’ve never been an Austin Rivers fan, but I don’t see him helping this team. In his 29 games with the Wizards, Rivers shot 39.2 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from 3. The Grizzlies don’t need another average shooter.
Additionally, Rivers holds on to the ball a lot and can dribble around without much of a result. He’s also terrible on defense, ranking near the bottom of the league in defensive win shares. I just don’t see Rivers really fitting in with his team, so Santa should bring them anything that’s not Austin Rivers.
A puppy? A pack of gum? Shoelaces? Anything really, it would just be good if Rivers stayed off this team.