Los Angeles Clippers Mid-Season Grades: Austin Rivers

Offense: B

While Rivers has never been required to drop 20 a night for the Clippers due to other scorers such as Blake Griffin and Lou Williams being on the court, he has certainly tried to do so. Rivers isn’t the teams’ first scoring option, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t and has not worked to be one.

In his 36 games played this season, Rivers has scored at least 20 points 8 times, and 30 points 3 times, setting a career-high 38 points back in late December. He is averaging 15.5 points per game, and that is likely to keep going up.

Rivers’ three-point percentage has improved steadily and drastically since 2014, climbing from 28% to where it sits now at 39%. The other part of Rivers’ game that has taken a turn for the better is his decision-making skills. He now knows when to try to score inside as well as when to pass the ball. Rivers’ assists per game are up to 3.8 from last year’s 2.7.

One part of Austin Rivers’ game that could improve is his mid-range shot. He doesn’t take many, preferring to stay behind the arch or try for layups. Rivers also needs to improve on his free-throw shots, 65.2% from the line just isn’t acceptable for an NBA guard in his 7th season.