If Austin Rivers is going to silence naysayers who claim his career has been propped up by his head coach father, now is as good an opportunity as any. Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times spoke with the 25-year-old Clippers guard about life after Chris Paul.
Rivers averaged 12.0 points per game in 74 games for the Clippers last season but drove that up to 16.1 in 29 games as a starter. With Paul and shooting guard J.J. Redick no longer with the squad, he could see a lot more time as a primary scoring option.
Rivers also spoke about the rumor that Paul requested a trade because Doc Rivers, then still the president of basketball operations, refused to trade his son in an effort to bring Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers.
“I talked to him after that rumor came out, confronted him about it and he said it wasn’t coming from him or coming from his camp,” Austin said. “So we left it at that.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Although the mission was to get the Kings into the postseason when he signed on with the team, head coach Dave Joerger is comfortable with and committed to the rebuild at hand, too, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes.
- Now down to 232 pounds, the lightest he’s been in years, 24-year-old Anthony Bennett is ready to resuscitate his career, Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic writes. The former first-overall pick is on a non-guaranteed deal with the Suns.
- The Warriors could wait until the deadline to accept Kevon Looney‘s fourth-year option, Anthony Slater of the Athletic writes. The forward has been hard-struck by injuries over the course of the past few years but could finally be ready to show potential.
Best wishes to Anthony Bennett. A great physical specimen, but tagged as a bust. Hope he stops eating entire White Castle stores and becomes a viable NBA player. I think his. Offset issue though is he’s a tweener or at least has been. Too small for a PF but way too slow for a SF
Problem with Anthony Bennett was his weight and motor. If Draymond can play the for AB can as well.
Four *
Also had some injuries, but he did have a shot last year, and he just didn’t look like he was any better than similar skillset players in the d-league
Why I stated if he could stop eating junk food.
Bennet manages to be a double-tweener– in between the 3,4, AND 5. This is a rare feature and so far his greatest pro accomplishment.
Good luck Bennet .