Before practice today, Los Angeles Clippers PG Austin Rivers and others discussed Rivers’ role as a SF this season. The team also announced today that rookie PF Brice Johnson is out indefinitely with a herniated disc in his lower back, an injury suffered Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
Sure was a good thing the Clippers signed this 6’4″ guy, so he now can play small forward, instead of continuing to pursue Durant. That will go down as the most significant transaction in GM Rivers’ time with the Clippers.
– The Clippers verbally committed to Austin Rivers on Friday, as reported by Ramona Shelburne.
– They met with Durant on Saturday and later told the media Durant was “blown away” by them.
– They announced on Sunday they’d stopped pursuing Durant, though all of the other teams that met with him still were pursuing him. If they signed him, they would not be able to sign Austin Rivers.
– They signed Austin Rivers, who no other team offered a contract to.
Yeah, Austin Rivers is the reason Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors instead of the Clippers. The Rivers family needs a restraining order. I’ve never seen someone as obsessed as you are.
Most of the SG’s in the NBA are at least 6’5” and your dumb ass is still bitching about the Clippers trading away Bledsoe instead of starting him as a 6’1” SG who couldn’t shoot and paying him MAX money.
Harrison Barnes is making $22M this year.
Harrison Barnes had a 12.3 PER last year.
Austin Rivers had an 11.1 PER last year.
Eric Bledsoe had a 20.0 PER last year, costs $3M more than Austin.
Austin was not a good deal no matter how many times you try and suggest he is.
No matter how many times the Eric Bledsoe situation and the 2013-2014 salary cap is explained to you you’ll never understand it.
In an NBA where Harrison Barnes is making $22M and Tyler Johnson is making $12M that’s the 2016-2017 cost for mediocre rotation players.
Once Chris Paul re-signed with the Clippers in 2013 Eric Bledsoe was going to be traded. Bledsoe didn’t want to play SG or backup PG. Bledsoe wanted to run his own team. The Clippers desperately needed shooting.
The only reason Bledsoe wasn’t moved during the Trade Deadline in 2013 was because the Clippers needed Chris Paul insurance. If the Clippers kept Eric Bledsoe instead of Chris Paul they would have been a lottery team 2 of the last 3 years.
Citing other teams that overpaid does not mean overpaying for Austin was a good idea. What Harrison Barnes or Tyler Johnson gets paid doesnt make Austin a good signing at $11M, especially when Rio Chalmers, a starter on 2 NBA championship teams with better stats than Austin can be had for minimum to fill the same exact role.
You simply dont know how or what would have happened by retaining Bledsoe, the fact remains he was an asset worth a max contract and we could have either A) used him or B) traded him into the SF we’ve needed for the last half decade. You’re making hypothetical projections about what the team would have done with Bledsoe. He was still an asset and could have been used to get more value in return than he got in the trade we made.
As far as your belief we would have been a lottery team, its all based on projections from your own little world.
Ironically, the post is about Austin playing some SF. The position we’ve actually needed for years that we cant seem to fill because we have 6 guards and a tweener under contract.
Bledsoe tore his meniscus 2 of the last 3 years. The Clippers would have lost Chris Paul in Free Agency and Bledsoe due to injuries. They would have been a lottery team.
In 2013 there were only 3 names attached to Eric Bledsoe trade rumors. Those names were Paul Millsap, Kevin Garnett, and Arron Afflalo.
Garnett and Millsap would have required DJ being traded along with Bledsoe. And Arron Afflalo isn’t a SF.
Raymond Felton is better than Mario Chalmers. Add in the fact that Mario Chalmers tore his Achilles tendon in March and it isn’t even up for debate.
Who cares about injuries that happened because he was overplayed on another squad, that doesn’t address his value as an asset and a player and what we could have got.
You don’t know what CP would have done. You’re not CP. The point is Bled is a max contract asset with a PER that ranks in the top 25 in the league and we failed to capitalize on it. We didnt need to trade him when we did, so the names in the rumor mill at that time are inconsequential. We had a full season to wait for the right package and RFA rights making sure we could retain him.
Mario Chalmers for minimum is a steal compared to Austin at $11M. That is the point. Austin was not worth overpaying. You seem to be completely obtuse about this and dodge that fact by comparing his contract to other overpays. Mario Chalmers, regardless of Achilles issues, averages more than Austin and is $10M less a year.
Man, you are clueless. And keep dreaming about those Eric Bledsoe trades that weren’t available. And keep dreaming that Bledsoe and CP would have been cool with sharing the starting PG spot.
Those aren’t overpays. Those are the contracts being given out to mediocre rotation players right now. Evan Turner signed for $17M per year.
It’d be great if Austin was making league minimum. It’d be great if Jamal was still making $5M per year. But that isn’t how contracts work. That isn’t how the free market works.
Mario Chalmers tore his Achilles and will never be the same. He was below average to begin with and will be even worse now. He’s not even worth the 15th roster spot.
One of the benefits of Jamal and Austin having bigger contracts is it makes them easier to trade for “overpays” on other rosters that might fit better with the Clippers.
Yes, they are overpays no matter how much you want to say they arent. The market changed because of the additional salary cap, but clearly value was still present as we were able to secure both Raymond Felton and Mo Speights for less than what they should have commanded on the market. The production of both of those players compared to Austin shows that Austin was an overpay. I dont care that other more desperate teams paid high dollars for mediocre role players, that in no way proves that Austin’s contract was a good deal in comparison to other options on the market available (Chalmers, Lawson, Cole, Vasquez) for minimum that produce better stats than Austin. I can cite multiple players paid significantly less that produce far more than Austin. It is you that is clueless by continuing to say overpaying was smart based on the market rates for other mediocre role players. There was, and still is, tons of value available on the market at minimum for the same role Austin fills. The only time you should overpay is when there are no better options. There were better options. We still chose to overpay. That was a bad decision.
We did not need to trade Bledsoe when we did. The pieces we got in return did not match his value. We had an entire year at rookie scale before he hit RFA, for which we had the leverage as the rights holder and there are literally thousands of different trade scenarios that could have presented themselves. Even Sterling, in one of the few times I actually agreed with him, tried to stop the trade.
It doesnt matter whether CP3 or Bledsoe could have co-existed or not as dual starters, something I never even stated in the first place. The fact remains Bledsoe is an asset that is valued as a max player. We could have used that asset in multiple ways, in either trade, or as a starter in a combo-guard role. I never said both had to start, that’s you adding things to the argument that were never stated. I simply maintain we should have kept the asset or waiting until the trade opportunities fulfilled real needs we had as a team. You and your assumptions about players have no bearing in reality. They are manufactured in your head and you cant back them up.
Rio Chalmers may have blown his achilles but he still has better stats and production than Austin and is still available for $10M a year less. That is the point. We could replace Austins role with a more productive player for $10M less. Your personal opinions of Rio have nothing to do with the facts and stats. Austin is below average and a worse player than Rio from a statistical perspective. He’s also cheaper from a market perspective. Those are facts, not baseless assumptions concocted in someones head.
Jamal is a core member. We needed to retain him. I have no issues with that contract. We should have let Austin walk or get a signed deal and then decided whether or not to match. I, personally, would have targeted Ty Lawson or Rio Chalmers at minimum to fill that role and kept more space avalable under the cap moving into next offseason as we confront CP3, Blake and JJ being free agents and commanding big dollar extensions.
Theres no benefit to a long term overpay unless a team is looking for a salary dump. Not many teams are going to be calling for Austin at $11M a year unless its to unload another player who is overpaid.
Hahahaha. Keep banging that drum Bledsoe truthers.
There was only one way the Bledsoe situation was going to end. It was going to end in a trade. It was only a matter of who. The rest of the NBA knew this. It’s one of the reasons his value was so low.
Injury concerns were another reason. And they were right. 3 significant knee injuries/surgeries by the age of 26.
Rio Chalmers is still a Free Agent. Hmmm, I wonder why? I guess that’s just inside my head, right?
Don’t worry, you can still sign him on 2k17. I’m sure the video game version of Rio will recover from his Achilles tear just fine.
Jamal is a core member? Hahaha. Jamal is shooting 38% from the field and 28% from 3 in the Playoffs as a Clipper. Add in his shitty defense and shitty rebounding and he’s one of the reasons the Clippers keep losing in the Playoffs.
I’m all for the Clippers getting rid of Jamal and Austin. But too many low money contracts actually limit your flexibility to make roster moves during a season. People are just too dumb to realize this.
That’s your opinion that a trade was necessaryand it neglects the fact we had all the leverage as it relates to his RFA status the following year. We held all the leverage. Your assumptions are just assumptions.
Injuries after the trade have no bearing whatsoever on this discussion and could be attributed to him being overplayed in PHX. That doesn’t address any of the points about letting him go for pennies on the dollar based on his market rate as a max player.
Rio is still recovering but has 3 teams calling about his services. That still doesn’t change the fact he wants less money and produces more than Austin. The point is we could replace what Austin provides at a fraction of the cost with a player that has better statistical output.
Jamal is a core member of this team and he is. Attack his percentages all you want, Doc still relies on his ability to create shots on the second unit and he still was 6th man of the year. Yes, he is a core member of this team and it’s identity.
Again, by saving that $11m on Austin by replacing the role he fills with a cheaper more productive option makes it easier to retain CP, Blake and JJ next year. I don’t want to lose JJ because we are so far over the luxury line thanks to overpaying Austin and not being able to move him or get his contract off the books. With Ty Lawson or Rio we could let them walk or sign them to an additional year without compromising the available cap under the tax and with our exceptions in tact.
You’re the one being dumb here by insisting Austin at $11M was a smart deal. It wasn’t. We competed against ourselves when we had all the leverage and ignored better, cheaper options who could fulfill the same role.
Diamond Stone is the best rookie prospect on the Clippers since Eric Bledsoe.
He’s one of the most offensively skilled 19 year old big men I’ve seen. And he isn’t a stiff defensively.
If he can stay on the floor defensively and pick up the system on both sides of the ball the Clippers have gotten themselves one hell of a steal.
The problem with starting Austin at SF is defensive rebounding.
J.J. and Jamal are two of the worst rebounders in the entire NBA. Austin isn’t much better.
Doc’s made defensive rebounding an emphasis this year. Well, Doc, 3 of your top 6 rotation players are horrendous rebounders.
See, clowns, that’s fair and legitimate criticism of Austin and Doc.
According to an article in the LA Times today, Austin Rivers says the Clippers told him at the end of last season he would be playing a lot of small forward and would be starting a lot of games at small forward.
So this whole thing of Rivers at small forward has been in the works for awhile. The whole Kevin Durant thing must have scared them because that would have derailed that plan. So they bailed out on Durant so they could sign “Daddy’s Boy” and play him at small forward instead of pursuing Durant.
Mindboggling.
Yikes. I guess the good news is that A Rivers is no worse at SF than he is at PG or SG.
I wonder what CP3 really thinks about all this and Doc Rivers.
hey dumbass, did you not see anything about the clippers pursing durant? they were willing to drop everyone from the roster aside from dj, blake and chris to get him. Clips held on until they heard they were KD’s third option, then starting locking up their free agents.
That’s nothing but a fantasy you’re trying to pass off as reality. You’re just trying to cover up for GM Rivers and the foolish deal he gave to “Daddy’s Boy”.
Here’s the reality: Ramona Shelburne reported that the Clippers verbally committed to Austin Rivers and his contract on the Friday that free agency started. Then they met with Durant the following day, Saturday. Then the Clippers told the media Durant was “blown away” by the Clippers. Then almost immediately the Clippers said they weren’t going to pursue Durant anymore, even though all the other teams he met with still were pursing him. Then on the first day they officially could, they signed “Daddy’s Boy” to the contract they’d verbally offered him on the day before they met with Durant. No other team offered “Daddy’s Boy” a contract, even though he tried to tell the media that three other teams did. That was a lie.
so where’s you’re proof, of any of that?
Let’s hope Brice Johnson recovers in time for the D-League opener.
Let’s hope Brice Johnson ups his trade value during his D-League stint.
Let’s hope Brice Johnson is used in a trade package to upgrade the wing position this year.
It would have to be a multi player 3 team trade. And I’m guessing the targets will be Wilson Chandler or Rudy Gay.
Austin Rivers continues shooting like Austin Rivers often shoots. Against Utah last night he was 2-12 and 0-4 from three range. So far in the preseason he’s 6-29 from the field and 1-10 from three range. Hard to imagine how an NBA player shooting any worse.