Austin Rivers has always been the victim of criticism for not being a good enough “point guard.” He has received criticism for not distributing the ball effectively. The thing is, Rivers was never regarded as a point guard until he was drafted to the NBA.
Austin Rivers is not a point guard and the LA Clippers shouldn’t look at him as one.
During his four years at Winter Park High School, Rivers played the shooting guard position. His most remarkable season was his senior campaign, when he averaged 28.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2 steals per game, shooting 51% from the field. During this campaign he first committed to the two-time NCAA championship winning Florida Gators, but then decided to join the five-time championship winning Duke Blue Devils as a last second decision.
In his one season with the Blue Devils, Rivers averaged 15.5 points, 2.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1 steal, and shot 43% from the field. As you can see, he still had a low average of assists. This is because much like his role at Winter Park, he was a scoring option. It was not his job to constantly move the ball around or find open teammates. After just one season as a Blue Devil Rivers declared for the 2012 NBA draft.
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New Orleans picked him 10th overall to add to their guard depth, and considered him a shooting guard his first season, not a point guard. Rivers had less than impressive stats that year averaging just 6.2 points on 37% shooting. He played three seasons with New Orleans, averaging 6.9 points on 40% shooting total in his time as a Hornet/Pelican. Rivers was then part of a three team trade in which the Clippers sent Reggie Bullock to the Suns, and Chris Douglas-Roberts and the now-relevant 2017 second-round pick to the Celtics landing Austin Rivers in LA.
Doc Rivers was clearly interested in coaching his son, and saw him as a back-up point guard option for the Clippers. Fans expected Rivers to play like Chris Paul, using screens and throwing lobs, making plays for better options on the team. Instead, Rivers worked on getting baskets. He worked on finishing at the rim, improving his jump shot, and utilized his ball-handling abilities for two seasons. Rivers’ scoring improvement while in a Clippers uniform is impossible to ignore. In three seasons his points per game jumped from 7 to 12, and his three-point shooting has jumped from 30% to 37%. Rivers had 11 20-point games this season. He had 8 total in his NBA career before this season.
Rivers was ran almost entirely at the shooting guard and small forward positions this year, and he was better for it. Rivers is a scoring guard, and maybe even a small forward option, however he is not by any means a point guard. At 24 years of age he will continue to improve as a scoring option in the NBA, but unfortunately for confused critics, he probably won’t average 8 to 10 assists per game any time soon.