Austin Rivers makes it official - AUSTIN RIVERS HEADS TO NBA DRAFT

March, 26, 2012

8:15 - PM ET

By ESPNBoston.com


After one season at Duke, Austin Rivers is off to the NBA he announced Monday.
Austin Rivers, son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers, made his decision to jump to the NBA official on Monday...

Austin Rivers is leaving Duke after one season for the NBA draft. The freshman guard announced his decision and plans to hire an agent on Monday after team officials said he spent the weekend discussing his future plans with his family at their home outside Orlando, Fla. "I would like to thank the coaches, my teammates and the fans for helping make this past year at Duke so special," Rivers said in a statement released by the university. "It was a difficult decision to leave Duke, but I am excited about chasing my dream of playing in the NBA."

Let the speculation begin about whether the Celtics would draft him. Doc Rivers said simply, "that would be interesting," when asked last week.

112288

Hi,
Yes, that would be interesting. But if he's as good as they say he is, Celtics will be too late for his pick.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Yes, that would be interesting. But if he's as good as they say he is, Celtics will be too late for his pick.

AK

THEY as you say, think he is good BUT I really doubt he does much next year, of course depends greatly on who drafts him but even then I think it will be difficult for him to garner much playing time. Just got to believe 1 more year in college would have done a lot for him. Watched a lot of college hoops and he had some good games and some very good games but the ACC is NOT the NBA by a long stretch and an average/good game in the ACC for him is a DID NOT PLAY in the NBA.

Time will tell.

beat

I try to look beyond the hype to see why he decided to go. Family nor he needs the money. Seems like he was academically OK in college. Was a starter most of season on a great college team with a great coach.

So why? Could be.............

1) Maybe a life time dream and has ants in his pants to achieve it;
2) Perhaps he is not as good as they say, and he would drop in college ratings next year so maybe he decided to ride the hype and get drafted in first round now;
3) Had no interest in school work so why bother to hang around;

Clearly he is not pro ready. The reports clearly state so. He will end up a bench warmer as a rookie wherever he winds up. Drafted mid to lower first round means he is going to a better team with solid starting point guards.

112288

11-,

Three good possible reasons.

I've also thought there could be another reason driving Rivers to go pro; Duke is looking pretty bad for next year.

If you look at what Duke accomplished with what little talent they had this year it was one oustanding coaching job by Coach K. They're going to part with what little quality they had and they're expected to slide way down the rankings next year. They could be weak enough that they may not be able to get seeded for the tournament.

Rightly or wrongly so, players on teams who don't compete for their conference title just don't get much notice. Even NBA scouting divisions tend to pay less attention to the also-rans.

It could be that Rivers has made the assumption that being surrounded by less than stellar teammates isn't going to help him stand out or develop. It will probably be a few years until Duke can re-establish dominance in the ACC with what they've recruited and other conference schools have had some strong committments.

Transfer and you sit out a year.

Looking at it from that view, although few think he's ready, now may be the time to go pro.

Regards

Of course he is not ready. But he will learn.

Hope celtics get him.

Dboss

NYCelt

Looked up the 2012 rankings for colleges for the 2012 incomming class. In the top 25 listed 6 are ACC teams and none of those are DUKE PLUS 2 other schools that are listed Syracuse and Pitt will be joining the ACC.

so you might very well be right. Duke might not make the big dance next year.

beat

112288 wrote: Drafted mid to lower first round means he is going to a better team

That's the best reason to come out now. Staying in college, getting better, and moving up the draft board means starting out on a lousy team. Come out now, and he'll not only avoid getting stuck on a team like Charlotte or Washington, but he can go to a better team where he can start more gradually and not be thrown to the wolves playing with lousy teammates.

I still think he'd be better off staying in college, but this is the first argument for coming out now that makes any sense to me.

Outside,

I know what you are saying but the operative word is "START" verses sitting like Bradley did and will continue to do with Rondo as starting point guard.

For me, I would rather learn while starting, not in practice or the D League.

You are right, the best was to stay in college.

112288

I saw one mock draft with him going as high as #9, to Milwaukee. Another saw him getting picked at #17 and two that said he'd be picked #18

By the Celtics.

Great shooter. Poor rebounder. Poor ft shooter. More TOs than assists.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Austin-Rivers-5743/

http://nbadraftroom2.blogspot.com/2011/07/austin-rivers-scouting-report.html

bob


.

Lots of thought provoking ideas on the younger Rivers.

Unless he grows to about 6'11" and around 240 lbs. in the next three months, however, I can't see us taking him with our first pick.

At second pick there should be plenty of options available that won't cause even more second guessing on Doc's rotations than a coach would normally get.

If we were to take anyone from Duke my bet is it would be one of two players by the last name of Plumlee.

Regards

*My usual disclaimer on these things; I've been wrong before.

St. John's -Moe Harkless - enough said........he will become a super star.

I saw the kid play live several times this year and he is the real deal.

My only disclaimer I am a St John's Alum.

112288

based on doc recent comments, young Rivers could be a Celtic .

Dboss

I hope not!

Let us concentrate on a big first. We have a shooter in Moore but Doc refuses to play the kid. We do not need another spoon feeding pick that needs 4 years to develop.

112288

I like Moore too but he is probably a trading chip.