Austin Rivers

Austin Rivers
PG/SG, 6’4, 200lbs, 24 years old, 5 years of experience

Best season of his career, Career highs in efficiency, three point shooting, assist ratio, usage ratio and scoring, and recorded his first ever positive VORP. His improvement as a shooter was the most important development - free throw line excepted - both in terms of the amount of how many outside shots he hits and how many long twos have become threes, and while he is still consumed with iso ball at times (especially in the clutch), his on-court discipline is improving. If he can continue growing as a catch-and-shoot player and becoming a plus defender with good ball pressure, he could be a fine sixth man, or perhaps Redick’s replacement.

Player Plan: Two years and $25.475 million remaining, with a player option for 2018/19. Keep and keep developing.

Pick 10: The running message we get on draft nights, and thus the running joke that stems from it, is that every team is amazed that the player they wanted was still on the board when they picked, and that they're overjoyed to have landed the one player they wanted all along. This is the story we get even in those instances (like, say, Cleveland above) when a team clearly tried to trade its way out of that spot but got stuck with it anyway. It is very true at the moment, however, as New Orleans bags the terribly facial haired Austin Rivers at #10, a man they probably didn't think would be there then. And who probably shouldn't have been.

Rivers, who likely won't have to do the traditional draftee thing and buy his parents a house, now pairs up in New Orleans with Eric Gordon. Gordon is a restricted free agent this summer, and, as the only top quality shooting guard on the market, might not be easy to retain. But if New Orleans pays whatever it costs to keep him - and they really must - they now have a strong young core of him, Rivers, the aforementioned Anthony Davis and the always underappreciated Gustavo Ayon (who will be so much better than you expect next year). What isn't obvious is how Rivers and Gordon will pair - both are undersized twos that can't really play point guard, and yet unless they want to spend a year subbing in for each other, one of them will have to. However, acquiring talent and taking the best player available is always the right way to go, and Rivers is that. Something akin to the Gilbert Arenas/Larry Hughes backcourt of yesteryear, back when both were good, may just work.

With that in mind, Jarrett Jack is now back in his rightful position - as the league's best backup point guard. It's where he should always have been.

ESPN's on-screen graphics have carried a feedback poll on every pick made so far. For the Rivers pick, fans have voted for a rather high 14.7% rating. This seems bafflingly high. Then again, even Anthony Davis got 5.3% F's. The lesson, as always - people are dumb.