Rivers Ready To Roll

Austin Rivers has been awesome through four games and arguably deserves a chance to start.

There have been so many great lottery storylines during the first week of NBA action – Anthony Davis is blossoming into a legitimate MVP candidate, the Phoenix Suns are lots of fun with Gerald Green and Isaiah Thomas coming off the bench, Jason Kidd seems to be getting the most out of Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo and Milwaukee, Quin Snyder is orchestrating some smooth jazz in Utah, Minnesota is making an early case to be named League Pass darlings, Sacramento has gotten off to a surprise 4-1 start, Chris Copeland and Donald Sloan are making the most of their opportunities for Indiana, and rookies Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Nerlens Noel, Dante Exum, Marcus Smart, Eflrid Payton, Aaron Gordon and K.J. McDaniels have all shown solid potential thus far. However, the most sneakily intriguing early lottery storyline has to be the ascension of New Orleans Pelicans combo-guard Austin Rivers.

Rivers was, to put it politely, pretty bad during his rookie season, averaging 6.2 points on 37 percent shooting from the field to go along with 2.1 assists, 1.8 rebounds, 0.4 steals and 1.2 turnovers in 23 minutes per game. During his second season, he improved much more than his per game averages indicate, though his numbers were better in every category (7.7 points on 41 percent from the field, 2.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1.1 turnovers) despite seeing four fewer minutes per game, as he raised his PER from 5.9 to 11.6. Through four games this season, Rivers is averaging 7.3 points on 52 percent shooting, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 0.3 blocks and 0.5 turnovers in 22 minutes per game while posting a PER of 15.3. He works his butt off every play he’s on the floor, plays tough defense, has good vision, looks comfortable playing pick-and-roll, gets to the free-throw line and can effectively spread the floor (49 percent on spot up 3-pointers last season).

Even if Eric Gordon, who threw up a wide-open midrange air ball on Tuesday night versus the Hornets, weren’t playing putrid basketball (5.8 points on 21 percent from the field, 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 turnovers in 33 minutes per game), Rivers is making a strong case that he deserves a chance to start while proving what a difficult decision it was for the Pels to decline picking up his fourth-year option. Gordon has much more experience, but Rivers has been better on both sides of the ball, meshes magnificently with Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, and could get the starting nod sooner than later if coach Monty Williams believes Gordon wouldn’t pout if relegated to a reserve role.

This kind of situation illustrates one of the big differences between the NFL and the NBA. There are more than 50 players on an NFL roster, and without nearly as much guaranteed money in player contracts, politics and team chemistry are much less frequent factors in determining who sees snaps on Sundays. It’s just the nature of the business and the sport. But in the NBA, a smart coach must cautiously weigh the positives and negatives that come with making a lineup change. Gordon, the Pelicans’ highest-paid player, is about as unmovable a contract as there is in the league (unless he makes a monumental turnaround), and he might feel some type of way if asked to come off the bench in favor of a third-year player he has played ahead of ever year.

If Gordon, who has a player option for $15.5 million next season, would accept a role coming off the bench and view it as an opportunity to shoot more freely and frequently in the second unit along with Ryan Anderson, NOLA could be much better off making the switch. Having three legitimate ball handlers capable of executing the pick-and-roll in Rivers, Evans and Holiday could help alleviate some of the Pelicans’ early-season offensive issues while allowing Gordon to bomb away off the bench. It has taken time, but thanks to all his hard work, the 22-year-old son of “Doc” is making a name for himself in the NBA one day at a time, and folks should really start to take note.