New Orleans’ Austin Rivers: “This Is My Year”

Austin Rivers hasn’t lived up to the massive hype that accompanied his high school recruitment. After a solid but unremarkable freshman season at Duke, Rivers entered the NBA Draft and was chosen tenth overall by the New Orleans Hornets – a development that immediately sparked cries of nepotism given his pre-draft status coupled with the relationship coach Monty Williams has with Rivers’ father, Doc. Rivers’ disastrous rookie season certainly didn’t help matters, and his improved but still poor sophomore campaign rendered Rivers’ place in New Orleans’ future uncertain.

At just 22 years-old, Rivers has reached somewhat of a crossroads in his career despite 2014-2015 only being his third season. The young, talented, and perhaps mismatched Pelicans have plans to compete in a loaded Western Conference, and are counting on Rivers to be their top reserve guard. And given the cluttered injury history of incumbent backcourt starters Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon, there’s certainly a possibility Rivers could be even more important to New Orleans’ success than initially anticipated.

Either way, his performance in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 won’t be enough. Fortunately for the Pelicans, Rivers is confident he’ll be much better this season than in the past.

From John Reid of The Times Picayune:

“I was constantly working the entire summer,” Rivers said. “I gained 10 pounds and I’ve got stronger in my upper body. This is my year…”

“The growing pains are over and I went through everything, so I’m ready to ball,” Rivers said.

“I’ve strictly worked on mid-range and getting my body stronger this summer,” Rivers said earlier this week. “I’ve got both of those things and I’m ready to prove and show people that this year.”

Added weight will certainly help Rivers on both ends of the floor. Though listed at 200 pounds, he played considerably smaller than that in his first two seasons in the league, dying while fighting through picks and struggling to finish through contact in the paint.

Rivers made 43.8 percent of his shots from the restricted area in 2012-2013 and 48.3 percent last season, both numbers well below league average. For a player that relies on his slick handle and knack for penetration first and foremost, such massive labors at the rim are an efficiency death-knell. Indeed, Rivers hasn’t managed a true shooting percentage of at least 49 percent in either of his first two campaigns, marks that would make him unplayable for a better team.

Improving from mid-range would help in that regard. Rivers attempted just 41 two-point shots outside of the paint in 2013-2014 and only made 10 of them, and was hardly more accurate or prolific from that area as a rookie. Considering his performance at the rim, still-developing three-point merit, and lack of pure point guard skills, you’d think Rivers would be a mid-range maven. Instead, it’s arguably the aspect of his game that needs to improve most.

The dreadful statistics say otherwise, obviously, but the jury is still out on Rivers’ future. He’ll never be the star so many predicted when he was making national headlines in high school, and likely won’t ever become a starter, either. Rivers’ natural playmaking talent is still rare, though, and he improved enough from beyond the arc last season that there is reason to believe he could be a good three-point shooter in time.

But he needs to make major, major strides this season if he wants to be a part of the Pelicans’ future. The team has a $3.1 million option on Rivers’ contract for next season, and almost parted ways with him this summer to help make room to add Omer Asik. New Orleans has already shown it’s not afraid to jettison Rivers, basically, and its relatively strapped financial situation for 2015-2016 means shedding his salary could be the surest route to improvement.

It would be best for both Rivers and the Pelicans, however, if it never comes to that. Here’s hoping his play in 2014-2015 ensures it’s the case.

*Statistical support for this post provided by nba.com/stats.

Will this really be Rivers’ year?

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