Of all the moves Ernie Grunfeld made, trading for Austin Rivers may have been his most important move of the summer for the Washington Wizards.
After failing to live up to expectations last season, the Washington Wizards quietly had one of the most successful offseasons in the league.
In their attempt to rebuild their roster, the Wizards added much-needed perimeter depth by selecting Oregon swingman, Troy Brown Jr with the 15th pick of the 2018 draft, and by signing Jeff Green, one of the most underrated players in the league. Factor in the fact that they were able to sign future Hall-of-Famer, Dwight Howard, and the Wizards have one of the deepest team in the league heading into the 2018-19 season.
The additions of Brown, Green, and Howard may be enough to turn the Wizards into an eastern conference powerhouse. But acquiring former Duke Blue Devil, Austin Rivers may have been the most important move of the summer.
After four up and down seasons in Los Angeles, the Wizards acquired Rivers in a late-July trade with the Clippers, in exchange for big man Marcin Gortat. The move by Los Angeles came as a shock as everyone was expecting Rivers to be apart of the Clippers’ young core to build their team around, especially after the career year he had.
Following the departure of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, Rivers had a breakout season as the Clippers starting point guard. He appeared in 61 games averaging a career-high 15.1 points, 4.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. The son of Doc Rivers also proved he can be a solid threat from behind the arc, shooting 37.8 percent from three-point land.
As the primary pick and roll ball handler and isolation player in Los Angeles, Rivers proved he could be a solid point guard in the league.
On the verge of beginning a new chapter in Washington, Rivers may not be the primary ball handler playing behind John Wall, but he does have a chance to become one of the best bench players in the league.
In his new role, Rivers will become the leader of the second unit, giving the Wizards a reliable guard who can create shots for himself and others when Wall and Bradley Beal are out. The lack of a substantial guard who could take the place of Wall and Beal played a huge factor in the disappointment the Wizards experience last season.
Washington was so desperate to fill the empty void, they signed Ty Lawson for their playoffs series against the Toronto Raptors, despite the factor that the 5’11 point guard had been out the NBA for a year.
With this being a contract year for Rivers, one should expect him to build off the success from last season, and play the best basketball of his career. Do not be surprised to see Austin Rivers’ name next to the 2018-19 Kia Sixth Man of the Year award at the conclusion of next season.