Is Austin Rivers still in the NBA?

[midatlantic09]

I don't think he has played at all in the last 3-4 games. What's the deal with this guy? Is there any hope for him?

[DMAVS41]

Probably not, but I'm pretty sure that Paul trade Stern made now looks terrible.

Gordon and the pick that became Rivers for Paul? LOL

So essentially a worthless player in Gordon that you don't want because he isn't good yet will demand a high salary...and a player in Rivers that is borderline NBA quality.

Great work Stern. Wow...

The only saving grace was that Gordon didn't play much over the last 2 years and add wins that would have hurt the Pelicans long term.

But now they are stuck with an over-rated player making 45 million over the next 3 years. :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm


Hint to all GM's...don't pay a guy 15 million a year on a long term deal who's best season was a 56 games 22/4/3 performance on a 32 win team. Just a heads up. **** these guys suck at their jobs 90% of the time.

[cos88]

played 9 seconds last night :roll:

[ihatetimthomas]

Probably not, but I'm pretty sure that Paul trade Stern made now looks terrible.

Gordon and the pick that became Rivers for Paul? LOL

So essentially a worthless player in Gordon that you don't want because he isn't good yet will demand a high salary...and a player in Rivers that is borderline NBA quality.

Great work Stern. Wow...

The only saving grace was that Gordon didn't play much over the last 2 years and add wins that would have hurt the Pelicans long term.

But now they are stuck with an over-rated player making 45 million over the next 3 years. :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm


Hint to all GM's...don't pay a guy 15 million a year on a long term deal who's best season was a 56 games 22/4/3 performance on a 32 win team. Just a heads up. **** these guys suck at their jobs 90% of the time.

Gordon was a great all around scorer on the Clippers. He could finish, and he had good range. He got better every single year. Injuries are what has derailed him in New Orleans. I do not think you would be saying this if he could stay healthy. If he can stay healthy, he can be a very good shooting guard.

[alenleomessi]

even injury riddled gordon is still by far the 2nd best player on the pelicans

[tomtucker]

Is Austin Rivers still in the NBA? .........Is Richard Pryor still alive?

[SpurrDurr]

It's not his fault if he's bad. It's all on his dad.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Gordon was a great all around scorer on the Clippers. He could finish, and he had good range. He got better every single year. Injuries are what has derailed him in New Orleans. I do not think you would be saying this if he could stay healthy. If he can stay healthy, he can be a very good shooting guard.


'Great' is an oversell

[9512]

If Luke Walton can stick in the L for that many years, I don't see how Austin wouldn't. Let's not pretend Austin's dad's reputation Doc had nothing to do with Austin getting to Duke and get drafted 10th.

He got the benefit of the doubt in the first place due to nepotism and it will continue benefitting Austin for years to come.

[DMAVS41]

Gordon was a great all around scorer on the Clippers. He could finish, and he had good range. He got better every single year. Injuries are what has derailed him in New Orleans. I do not think you would be saying this if he could stay healthy. If he can stay healthy, he can be a very good shooting guard.

Really could not disagree more. There is nothing "great" about Gordon to date.

He's a solid player that is no better than Kevin Martin or Monta Ells. Truthfully I'd rather have both Ellis and Martin over Gordon.

He's extremely overpaid at 15 million per season as well.

It was a terrible trade. Way worse than the original Lakers trade for a ton of reasons. The biggest being that Gordon, if he hadn't gotten injured, would have added wins to a Pelicans team that needed to tank. So it was blind luck he didn't play a lot the last couple year.

Also, as I said at the time, it puts the Pelicans in a no win situation. You either let him walk (as they should have) or resign him for way too much money. But how do you sell the CP3 trade to fans then if you essentially got Austin Rivers only if you let Gordon walk.

So they were forced to grossly overpay a player that is maybe worth half of his contract....****ing up the teams ability to build for the future around Davis for at least the next 2.5 years.

Again...horrible trade. Just awful.

Look at the team they have. It could be great going forward if they could have used that Gordon money on other players are for cap flexibility. I don't outright hate the Noel move, but I really think they should have kept him and been bad for 1 more year. Should trade Anderson for Asik.

And then should have gone after players this summer. Build around Davis, Noel, and Asik. Would have gotten a high draft pick in a loaded draft this upcoming summer.

Instead? They are going to be stuck as a fringe playoff team with 45 million a year comitted to Holiday, Evans, Gordon, and Andersen. That just doesn't work in my opinion. They aren't challenging for anything yet...so why commit so much money to a team that can't win anything?

Now, if they ship out Gordon at some point...things could get better in a hurry. They should really be focusing on a 3 team deal with the Rockets to get Asik and shed Gordon and Andersen. I'm sure there is some stupid team out there willing to take on Gordon's contract.

[Eric Cartman]

guys I have a hunch that new orleans is not going to extend a qualifying offer to him and make him a free agent when the time comes (this season or the next don't know much about those things)

[statman32]

If Luke Walton can stick in the L for that many years, I don't see how Austin wouldn't. Let's not pretend Austin's dad's reputation Doc had nothing to do with Austin getting to Duke and get drafted 10th.

He got the benefit of the doubt in the first place due to nepotism and it will continue benefitting Austin for years to come.
Luke Walton stuck around because of his contract, and the fact that he was brilliant with the ball. A very talented player hurt by injuries and a lack of athleticism.

[Patrick Chewing]

This sucka coulda been winning chips with Duke right now

[mugiwara]

Imagine Chris Paul with Anthony Davis.

EDIT- and David West

[Johnny Jones]

Imagine Chris Paul with Anthony Davis.

EDIT- and David West
Pelicans would have never got the brow if we never traded Paul.

[DMAVS41]

Imagine Chris Paul with Anthony Davis.

EDIT- and David West

Not possible.

Imagine the future of the Pelicans if they didn't tie up 26 million a year for the next 3 plus years in Evans and Gordon...

Imagine them getting a top 5 pick in this years draft if they hadn't panicked and traded Noel and didn't sign Gordon to a terrible contract.

Hopefully it works out anyway, but the Pelicans have done a terrible job the last few years.

[mugiwara]

^ agree and i understand the brow never would've came if they still had paul but just imagine....

[anthonyRandolph]

Not possible.

Imagine the future of the Pelicans if they didn't tie up 26 million a year for the next 3 plus years in Evans and Gordon...

Imagine them getting a top 5 pick in this years draft if they hadn't panicked and traded Noel and didn't sign Gordon to a terrible contract.

Hopefully it works out anyway, but the Pelicans have done a terrible job the last few years.

Evans is underperforming but he's still young and talented also on a new team, Gordon has been great this season for the Pelicans and his injury issues are just unfortunate. The Pelicans have a deep squad when Ryan Anderson returns and are poised to make a play off push. We have no clue what Noel would do and what makes you think they're guaranteed a top 5 pick in this draft if they don't trade for Jrue, hell what even make you think that pick pans out? The Pelicans did what they had to do, they made moves to show the changing of a culture from an owner who was tight as shit with money, to an owner who wants to win and is willing to spend and build around their Franchise Superstar in Anthony Davis. The Pelicans are currently the youngest team in the league and as a fan I love everything they've done thus far. Another year of non-competitive basketball would've destroyed what was left of an already absent fan base. The new identity and will to spend has definitely brought more attention and fans to the team, and like I said earlier this is still the youngest team in the league. Accumulating picks sounds great in all in theory, but it's not always the best way and a hell of a crap shot.

Anthony Davis - 20
Austin Rivers - 21
Jrue Holiday - 23
Eric Gordon - 24
Tyreke Evans - 24
Ryan Anderson - 25

how about we still imagine the future?

[DMAVS41]

Evans is underperforming but he's still young and talented also on a new team, Gordon has been great this season for the Pelicans and his injury issues are just unfortunate. The Pelicans have a deep squad when Ryan Anderson returns and are poised to make a play off push. We have no clue what Noel would do and what makes you think they're guaranteed a top 5 pick in this draft if they don't trade for Jrue, hell what even make you think that pick pans out? The Pelicans did what they had to do, they made moves to show the changing of a culture from an owner who was tight as shit with money, to an owner who wants to win and is willing to spend and build around their Franchise Superstar in Anthony Davis. The Pelicans are currently the youngest team in the league and as a fan I love everything they've done thus far. Another year of non-competitive basketball would've destroyed what was left of an already absent fan base. The new identity and will to spend has definitely brought more attention and fans to the team, and like I said earlier this is still the youngest team in the league. Accumulating picks sounds great in all in theory, but it's not always the best way and a hell of a crap shot.

Anthony Davis - 20
Austin Rivers - 21
Jrue Holiday - 23
Eric Gordon - 24
Tyreke Evans - 24
Ryan Anderson - 25

how about we still imagine the future?

Simple. I don't like Gordon. It's my opinion. I don't think that team above is going anywhere other than maybe 8th seed in playoffs the next couple years. Believe me...I want to be wrong because I watch a lot of their games and love Davis.

What would I have done? Assuming you made me trade for Gordon (which I wouldn't) and then made me sign him (which I wouldn't)...then I would have drafted Noel. Kept him. Then traded Gordon for anything...some young players, picks, whatever...doesn't matter to me really. I would trade Andersen for Asik if possible. I would have sucked one more year and gotten a high pick in a loaded draft.

Hell, if you made me take this current roster. I'd just trade Gordon for anything still and I'd try to move Andersen as well.

What is the ceiling of this team over the next 3 years? 1 playoff series win? I honestly don't know, but I don't think it's much better than that. And if that is the actual ceiling...then the kind of money tied up in those guards just is too much for those type of results.

But it depends on the goal. The goal for the Pelicans is clearly not to be great. It's to be a borderline playoff team that is fun to watch...and in that sense they have done a good job.

[HurricaneKid]

First off, the beauty of the league trade is that it bottomed NO out. If they take the crap deal the Lakers had put out they wouldn't have any of the young talent, including Brow, they now have.

Anyone suggesting the Lakers deal of Scola (whose contract was so bad he was amnestied just after the trade fell through), and LO who cratered as badly as any NBA player in memory, is completely oblivious to how teams are made.

[anthonyRandolph]

Simple. I don't like Gordon. It's my opinion. I don't think that team above is going anywhere other than maybe 8th seed in playoffs the next couple years. Believe me...I want to be wrong because I watch a lot of their games and love Davis.

What would I have done? Assuming you made me trade for Gordon (which I wouldn't) and then made me sign him (which I wouldn't)...then I would have drafted Noel. Kept him. Then traded Gordon for anything...some young players, picks, whatever...doesn't matter to me really. I would trade Andersen for Asik if possible. I would have sucked one more year and gotten a high pick in a loaded draft.

Hell, if you made me take this current roster. I'd just trade Gordon for anything still and I'd try to move Andersen as well.

What is the ceiling of this team over the next 3 years? 1 playoff series win? I honestly don't know, but I don't think it's much better than that. And if that is the actual ceiling...then the kind of money tied up in those guards just is too much for those type of results.

But it depends on the goal. The goal for the Pelicans is clearly not to be great. It's to be a borderline playoff team that is fun to watch...and in that sense they have done a good job.

These are all extremely talented players, one playoff win? Let's be real, Davis will be a superstar in the next 3 years, and with this level of young talent around him they'll make noise in the coming years if not this year. These players around him are only going to improve as he does, once again this team is still extremely young. The goal is to be a young up and improving playoff team, which is a great thing to be..

[anthonyRandolph]

First off, the beauty of the league trade is that it bottomed NO out. If they take the crap deal the Lakers had put out they wouldn't have any of the young talent, including Brow, they now have.

Anyone suggesting the Lakers deal of Scola (whose contract was so bad he was amnestied just after the trade fell through), and LO who cratered as badly as any NBA player in memory, is completely oblivious to how teams are made.

this 100%

[DMAVS41]

These are all extremely talented players, one playoff win? Let's be real, Davis will be a superstar in the next 3 years, and with this level of young talent around him they'll make noise in the coming years if not this year. These players around him are only going to improve as he does, once again this team is still extremely young. The goal is to be a young up and improving playoff team, which is a great thing to be..

I said one playoff series win. Again...I hope I'm wrong. But you really think this team is going to win more than one playoff series in the next 3 years?

I mean...very little to no chance they win a series this year.

And then I'd say 50/50 next year...and then maybe slightly more than that the following year.

I agree their goal is to be an up and coming young team, which they are, but they could have done it other ways without committing so much money to unproven players. 15 million a year for Gordon is simply awful. He's worth half that. Why not just let him walk or trade him? The Pelicans could have landed a guy like Kevin Martin for 6.5 million a year. I mean...that's less than half and Kevin Martin is at worst 90% as good as Gordon.

Stuff like that. Just dumb moves. The moves may work, but they were still dumb regardless.

[DMAVS41]

First off, the beauty of the league trade is that it bottomed NO out. If they take the crap deal the Lakers had put out they wouldn't have any of the young talent, including Brow, they now have.

Anyone suggesting the Lakers deal of Scola (whose contract was so bad he was amnestied just after the trade fell through), and LO who cratered as badly as any NBA player in memory, is completely oblivious to how teams are made.

You are so wrong as usual. The Gordon trade actually did not bottom them out. They got lucky that Gordon didn't play.

The original trade would have actually bottomed them out...no luck was needed.

And they never would have kept all those guys. The plan was to turn around and trade them. It's been confirmed...as they already had a deal in place for Odom I think. Can't remember if it was him or Scola.

Dumb luck bottomed out the Pelicans. If Gordon plays...he adds wins to that team and screws them further.

Please...educate yourself.

So not only are they now stuck with a player in Gordon they don't want or need making a ton of money, but that trade could have cost them the first pick if they don't have the luck that the player they traded for essentially takes a year off...LOL

[anthonyRandolph]

You are so wrong as usual. The Gordon trade actually did not bottom them out. They got lucky that Gordon didn't play.

The original trade would have actually bottomed them out...no luck was needed.

And they never would have kept all those guys. The plan was to turn around and trade them. It's been confirmed...as they already had a deal in place for Odom I think. Can't remember if it was him or Scola.

Dumb luck bottomed out the Pelicans. If Gordon plays...he adds wins to that team and screws them further.

Please...educate yourself.

So not only are they now stuck with a player in Gordon they don't want or need making a ton of money, but that trade could have cost them the first pick if they don't have the luck that the player they traded for essentially takes a year off...LOL

You're telling me a starting line up of

Vasquez
Gordon
Aminu
Lance Thomas
Jason Smith

isn't a bottomed out team?

and why do you keep saying don't need Gordon, have you watched the games this season? He's been extremely valuable to the team.

[HurricaneKid]

I said one playoff series win. Again...I hope I'm wrong. But you really think this team is going to win more than one playoff series in the next 3 years?

I mean...very little to no chance they win a series this year.

And then I'd say 50/50 next year...and then maybe slightly more than that the following year.

I agree their goal is to be an up and coming young team, which they are, but they could have done it other ways without committing so much money to unproven players. 15 million a year for Gordon is simply awful. He's worth half that. Why not just let him walk or trade him? The Pelicans could have landed a guy like Kevin Martin for 6.5 million a year. I mean...that's less than half and Kevin Martin is at worst 90% as good as Gordon.

Stuff like that. Just dumb moves. The moves may work, but they were still dumb regardless.

AD is already a top 10 player and if you were starting an NBA team he might be the overall #1 pick in a league wide draft.

The Suns signed Gordon to a max deal. The Pels could either match or let him go. They never had the option of making a trade.

The Tyreke deal was horrible. I have no idea on that one. Noel is only useful as a rim protector and at 206 pounds with a shredded knee it doesn't seem likely that his destiny as a rim protector is certain at all.

[DMAVS41]

You're telling me a starting line up of

Vasquez
Gordon
Aminu
Lance Thomas
Jason Smith

isn't a bottomed out team?

I don't follow. Either way they are getting rid of Paul.

They are better with Gordon if he's healthy. Again...they got lucky he didn't play. Got lucky guys like Jack, Ariza, Kaman, Okafor and others were hurt all year.

Again. They would have moved Odom and Scola for sure after the initial trade. Demps came out and said that was the plan.

So imagine the same roster with no Gordon...and essentially Dragic instead. It's worse on the Lakers trade.

And the kicker is you don't have to wast 15 million a year on a player you don't even want. Not to mention the picks/assets you get for Odom and Scola when you flip them.

[HurricaneKid]

You are so wrong as usual. The Gordon trade actually did not bottom them out. They got lucky that Gordon didn't play.

The original trade would have actually bottomed them out...no luck was needed.

And they never would have kept all those guys. The plan was to turn around and trade them. It's been confirmed...as they already had a deal in place for Odom I think. Can't remember if it was him or Scola.

Dumb luck bottomed out the Pelicans. If Gordon plays...he adds wins to that team and screws them further.

Please...educate yourself.

So not only are they now stuck with a player in Gordon they don't want or need making a ton of money, but that trade could have cost them the first pick if they don't have the luck that the player they traded for essentially takes a year off...LOL

Just delete this post. It's not befitting of you. You have completely altered history so you could pretend you won an Internet argument on ISH. It makes me sad for you.

[DMAVS41]

AD is already a top 10 player and if you were starting an NBA team he might be the overall #1 pick in a league wide draft.

The Suns signed Gordon to a max deal. The Pels could either match or let him go. They never had the option of making a trade.

The Tyreke deal was horrible. I have no idea on that one. Noel is only useful as a rim protector and at 206 pounds with a shredded knee it doesn't seem likely that his destiny as a rim protector is certain at all.

I agree on Davis.

I'm taking about trading Gordon now. They couldn't let him walk then because the fans would crucify the team for trading Paul solely for Austin Rivers...which is what would have happened if they let Gordon walk.

Again..this is why that trade was so bad. You were getting a good player back that would have added wins in years you didn't want wins added. And to make it worse...this player is over-rated and will demand a high salary.

When in reality he's no better than Kevin Martin...a player that makes less than half of Gordon.

I will keep saying it. The Pelicans planned to move Odom and Scola. And Scola's contract was not bad...it was a situational amnesty for the Rockets.

[DMAVS41]

Just delete this post. It's not befitting of you. You have completely altered history so you could pretend you won an Internet argument on ISH. It makes me sad for you.

What?

How on earth is the Lakers trade making them better? It was Dragic, Scola, Martin, and Odom...

They were moving Odom and Scola...it's been confirmed.

If Gordon had played..he would have added more wins than Dragic or Martin. Do you really dispute that?

Think of the assets they gain. They get at least a couple 2nd round picks for Odom and scola. And then they have Martin and Dragic to either keep or move as well.

Again. Gordon being hurt is what bottomed them out. Not the actual trade.

Please educate yourself on reality. Claiming the Gordon trade bottomed them out. Non sense...it was dumb luck after that trade happened that bottomed them out.

The original trade was made so they would be awful and not have to worry about taking on long term salary.

On all levels the Gordon trade was worse. You are just too stupid to see it.

[DMAVS41]

If they make that initial trade. They would have been the front runners to keep Dragic and Martin. They make a combined 14 million a year. Gordon makes 15 million per season.

Think about that. They wouldn't have had to make the Holiday trade and they could have kept their pick and been worse for at least 1 more year. With all their players on great contracts.

Hell, they might not still make the terrible Evans signing, but even if they do...he fits better on that team than he does currently.

[DMAVS41]

Try to think about it this way.

They won 21 games in 12.

With the Gordon trade they got basically Gordon and the pick that would become Rivers (worthless)

With the other trade they would have got Scola, Odom, Dragic, Martin and a first and 2nd round pick.

Odom and Scola were being moved. So add at least another 2nd pick or two.

So then you are left with Dragic and Martin vs Gordon and Aminu. Assuming Martin plays only 9 games like Gordon did...how many wins is Dragic adding on a team with Jack already playing 45 games and the team going 10-35 in those games?

I mean...like Dragic adds maybe 2 wins to the 21 total max.

Then you don't have to worry about signing an over-rated player to a bad contract and you have more cap flexibility going forward and more draft picks.

[JGXEN]

If Luke Walton can stick in the L for that many years, I don't see how Austin wouldn't. Let's not pretend Austin's dad's reputation Doc had nothing to do with Austin getting to Duke and get drafted 10th.

He got the benefit of the doubt in the first place due to nepotism and it will continue benefitting Austin for years to come.
Luke walton has legit skills. Austin rivers is just a god damn overrated ball hogging chucker.

[9512]

Luke walton has legit skills. Austin rivers is just a god damn overrated ball hogging chucker.

If he has legit skills then why doesn't he get significant meaningful PT?

[Lebron23]

Probably not, but I'm pretty sure that Paul trade Stern made now looks terrible.

Gordon and the pick that became Rivers for Paul? LOL

So essentially a worthless player in Gordon that you don't want because he isn't good yet will demand a high salary...and a player in Rivers that is borderline NBA quality.

Great work Stern. Wow...

The only saving grace was that Gordon didn't play much over the last 2 years and add wins that would have hurt the Pelicans long term.

But now they are stuck with an over-rated player making 45 million over the next 3 years. :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm :facepalm


Hint to all GM's...don't pay a guy 15 million a year on a long term deal who's best season was a 56 games 22/4/3 performance on a 32 win team. Just a heads up. **** these guys suck at their jobs 90% of the time.


True. I still can't believe that he was rated by rival.com as the no.1 high school player back in 2011.

He's averaging 6.1 ppg on 38.3 FG% this season.

[b0bab0i]

If Luke Walton can stick in the L for that many years, I don't see how Austin wouldn't. Let's not pretend Austin's dad's reputation Doc had nothing to do with Austin getting to Duke and get drafted 10th.

He got the benefit of the doubt in the first place due to nepotism and it will continue benefitting Austin for years to come.
His game winning 3 against UNC probably hyped him up.

[Johnny Jones]

Austin is a beast this year,