SEPTEMBER 1: Nearly a month after initially agreeing to terms with Rivers, the Nuggets made the deal official on Tuesday, per NBA.com’s transactions log. The one-year contract is believed to be worth the veteran’s minimum, though that has yet to be formally confirmed.
AUGUST 2: The Nuggets have agreed to re-sign Austin Rivers to a one-year contract, agents Aaron Mintz and Dave Spahn tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
After signing with the Knicks as a free agent last offseason, Rivers had a short-lived stint in New York. He was traded to Oklahoma City and subsequently waived before joining a Nuggets team that was hit hard by backcourt injuries down the stretch.
With Jamal Murray and Will Barton sidelined, Rivers played big minutes for the Nuggets in his 15 regular season games with the club, averaging 8.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, and 2.1 RPG on .418/.375/.706 shooting in 26.9 minutes per contest. He played even more in the postseason, starting nine of 10 games and averaging 9.2 PPG on .435/.413/.813 shooting in 30.5 MPG.
With Murray’s absence expected to stretch well into 2021/22, there should be playing time available for Rivers going forward.
It has been a busy night for the Nuggets. Less than four hours into free agency, they’ve already agreed to re-sign Rivers, Barton, and JaMychal Green while also lining up a deal with free agent forward Jeff Green. Denver now has 15 players who project to be on the regular season roster, so the team may be done shopping for the time being.
Wow talk about doubling down. Shouldn’t have signed him at the end of the season, and now they bring him back?
They needed him the in playoffs
Dion Waiters and Jeremy Lin were both available, and are both better fits, and he was terrible for them
You must not have watched the playoffs saying he was terrible for them.. he was a nice spark off the bench for an end of rotation/we need you to play bc of injuries guy. Sure it was for the minimum or close. Waiters and Lin IMO aren’t better fits. Those two will be in the G league..
in terms of narrative, maybe your story is accurate…in terms of reality….
Waiters and Lin?!!! Man, your lists are in need of an update…
Rivers is more valuable than those two at this point, and as already stated played very well last postseason
How good do you think Austin Rovers is? At worst, those guys would be comparable to him, and I personally think for them…which seems to be the thing that always goes over peoples heads, they are better fits
At the end of the season, it made even more sense for those 2 while they were still missing Will Barton, but even with him back, I would still say the same. I would also say Ntilikina and Shaq Harrison are guys they should consider
Nobody wants Waiters or Lin. Rivers is better than both.
Saying “they agreed to” sounds like they had to be convinced lol
I guess he’s not that great but Austin Rivers signing for the minimum seems low. He’s not that old yet right? Thought he would at least get 4, 5 million like some of these other guys.
Yeah, hard to know what happened with him… A fairly precipitous drop-off.
I’d describe him as a baller – he’s a guy who can undoubtedly play, with fire and attitude, but hasn’t really shown enough of one skill to warrant being sought after as a key addition to a rotation.
I think that’s it, you nailed it, he’s not exceptional in any single area. He just does it all fairly well. He can handle the point he can run the two, he’ll D it up a little bit. But nothing exceptional.
I think Austin Rivers is the right kind of guard to play next to Jokic/or as the 3rd or 4th guard to play. Rivers is an all around guard…he’s not gonna be able to dominate on his own…but he shoots well enough and he does a little bit of solid playmaking. Put him in a supporting role and he’s fine. He made very good contributions to the Nuggets last year. In the playoffs, his effective shooting percentage was the second highest of anyone on the team who played more than 10 minutes a game.
Rivers did what DEN wanted him to, after being ignored by the Nix. What DEN and HOU wanted are two different things. For one thing, it is less, and he can do that.