Austin Rivers will not be the Hornets 6th man.
Austin River's placement on the depth chart is predetermined by the teams make up.
Rivers might beat out Vasquez for the starting spot. In that case he will start and not come off the bench as the 6th man.
If he doesn't win the starting position the 2 most likely starting line ups will be:
Vasquez, Gordon, Anderson, Davis, Lopez; or
Vasquez, Gordon, Aminu, Anderson, Davis
(I don't see them giving Anderson all that money to not start.)
In either of those two line ups they will bring in the sixth man after 8 minutes or so. I highly doubt the first person they switch out will be the point guard. Aminu or Lopez will probably be the first person rotated out. Neither of them are likely to be replaced by Austin Rivers.
So because of the situation, I think that Austin will be number 7 off the bench, even if he is number 6 in our hearts.