Report: Clippers Will Acquire Austin Rivers, Doc’s Son, After Jeff Green Trade

The seemingly imminent Jeff Green trade isn’t yet completed, but that hasn’t stopped the Los Angeles Clippers from trying to poach one of the of the players involved. According to multiple media reports, the Clippers will likely acquire Austin Rivers – son of coach Doc Rivers – from the Boston Celtics once the the three-team trade of which he’s a part is finally completed.

The Celtics and Grizzlies have had a Green trade on the table for the past couple days and were looking for a third team to join in before finalizing it with the league office. The New Orleans Pelicans jumped at the chance today, agreeing to send Rivers to Boston and rookie Russ Smith to Memphis in exchange for Quincy Pondexter.

Again, the deal hasn’t been made official but presumably become so once the league office re-opens on Monday. And when it does, Doc will apparently get the chance to coach his son. USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt was first report this fun bit of news:

Other outlets later confirmed that the younger Rivers is eventually bound for Los Angeles:

Interesting.

Rivers has severely underwhelmed since the Pelicans selected him tenth overall in the 2012 draft. He’s stuck between positions in the backcourt, and has hardly shown the consistent scoring ability of other players with a similar physical profile and general skill-set.

But that doesn’t mean the 22 year-old couldn’t help his father’s team. The Clippers lack any semblance of legitimate backcourt playmaking – for the team or individual – behind Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford, and Rivers’ ballhandling prowess and knack for penetrating wouldn’t go a long way towards filling that gaping hole.

One wonders if should the younger Rivers thrive in Los Angeles the team would give more serious consideration to trading Crawford for an impact wing, too. He’s the only player with any value on the roster that could be somewhat expendable, and the Clippers desperately need some two-way consistency next to Paul and JJ Redick.

But that’s jumping the gun. The NBA has always loved its nepotism – it was only a matter of time before the Rivers men teamed-up. Let’s see if senior can help right junior’s wayward career.

What do you think?

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