If Not Austin Rivers, then who?

[MichaelMcNamara]

I keep seeing that Austin Rivers has been such a disappointment as a rookie. I also see numerous people saying that he was a reach as the 10th overall pick, that he was a project that maybe they would have considered at the end of the first or beginning of the second. This baffles me.

If he is a disappointment so far, then what do you call all the guys behind him that can't even get off the bench. Who drafted after Rivers is having a better start to his career? Who were these can't miss, NBA ready players that we passed up when we "reached" for Austin Rivers.

Seriously, take a look at picks 11-30 and how they are performing early in their career. I want to know if you could go back in time and select the 10th pick over again, who would you take?

[Bee-Fense]

I would have tried to trade with Toronto to trade the pick and go after Drummond. DET wasn't going to take Ross. Next on their board was Henson. I don't see why it couldn't have been 8. NOH - Drummond 9. DET - Henson 10. TOR - Ross

but at 10 Austin was probably the best pick there for us.

[SharlieCheen]

only person i would take out of the draft instead of austin was barnes but he got taken earlier

good observation

[MichaelMcNamara]

I knew I should have included this- no cheating. Don't say you would have traded up for this guy or that guy. You have no idea if those teams were open to it. Stick to the idea that you have number 10. Who do you take?

[Pelicans_fan_504]

Great post, when I hear some people say that we shouldn't drafted AR with the #10 pick I say the same thing you just posted. But the way AR has played lately has stop alot of that talk.

[Pantazis76]

I love Rivers i reckon his going to be great one day.
I would say Andrew Nicholson is the only one that is performing at a higher level then austin atm.

[AD23forMVP]

There are bigger disappointments than Rivers that were taken ahead of him. Heck, some love to complain about Anthony Davis.

[Eman5805]

I mean, has Thomas Robinson been doing much so far?

[MichaelMcNamara]

I am trying to be objective and really look at all the prospects and if you put me back on that day, 10th pick, same guys off the board ahead of him and I cant even think of another guy that I would consider taking. A couple of guys are playing slightly better, but none of those guys (Nicholson, Zeller, D. Green, etc.) have any real upside. If I couldgo back in time, it would still be Austin at ten for me

[AD23forMVP]

Was it you or Schwan that didn't like Rivers?

[AD23forMVP]

Also, in his last five games he's shooting 49% from the field and averaging 14 a game. At what point does he keep stringing games along and we say "ok this is Austin Rivers." Or is he just on a hot streak?

[lancebrou68]

it was shawn MM has been a supporter of Rivers and so have i for months before the draft

[lancebrou68]

*schwan*

[MichaelMcNamara]

I had Rivers coming here at 10 the minute that the lotto balls came up. Check the date and time on this article

http://www.hornets247.com/2012/05/30...ry-mock-draft/

It has always made sense to me and I took a lot of "stuff" from most of the other writers on our site, writers on other sites, our readers, etc. but I never stopped believing. Was the clear choice to me and still is

[Pelicans78]

To be fair, Rivers probably wouldn't get off the bench on the teams picked behind the Hornets.

But here are the the PER, Offensive Rating/Defensive Rating and Win Shares per 48 minutes for Rivers and the guys behind him.

10. Austin Rivers - 7.7, 91/113, -0.025
11. Meyers Leonard - 13.0, 118/106, .116 (22 games)
12. Jeremy Lamb - 7.5, 95/111, 0.005 (8 games, 34 minutes)
13. Kendall Marshall - 2.8, 77/115, -0.105 (6 games, 34 minutes)
14. John Henson - 14.6, 99/104, 0.070 (14 games)
15. Mo Harkless - 10.9, 96/99, 0.084 (19 games)
16. Royce White -N/A
17. Tyler Zeller - 10.8, 99/108, 0.046 (20 games)
18. Terrence Jones - 17.8, 110/105, 0.130 (8 games)
19. Andrew Nicholson - 18.7, 111/101, 0.163 (21 games)
20. Evan Fournier - 8.7, 96/116, -0.017 (7 games)
21. Jared Sullinger - 12.7, 109/102, 0.121 (22 games)
22. Fab Melo - N/A
23. John Jenkins - 23.3, 115/103, .209 (7 games)

I'm not surprised Rivers metrics are that low since his college advanced metrics were lower than most of these guys when compared at the same age. Guys at the 10 spot who had the best metrics were Jared Sullinger, Terrence Jones, John Henson, Tyler Zeller, and Meyers Leonard. But its easier for big men to have better metrics since they usually shoot a higher FG% and do more things on the floor like defense and rebounding. Too early to decide who was the best pick. Usually takes about 3-5 years to determine.

[Pelicans78]

With Sullinger's injury risk knocking him down, guys who I would have clearly picked over Rivers at that spot were Lamb, Terrence Jones, John Henson, and Meyers Leonard. I felt those guys brought more to the table especially long-term, but I had Rivers low in this draft anyway.

[MichaelMcNamara]

With Sullinger's injury risk knocking him down, guys who I would have clearly picked over Rivers at that spot were Lamb, Terrence Jones, John Henson, and Meyers Leonard. I felt those guys brought more to the table especially long-term, but I had Rivers low in this draft anyway.

Fair enough, and after having this extra couple of months, if you could go back in time, who would you take?

[Pelicans78]

Fair enough, and after having this extra couple of months, if you could go back in time, who would you take?

After Sullinger went down I had TJones, Leonard, Henson, and Lamb in that order. But Jones would have been a reach since he was drafted much later but he had the most skills out of anyone at that point. Defense, rebounding, superb athleticism, high IQ, good ball-handler, and passer for a PF. Now this was before the team signed Anderson.

[Mr. West]

Its far too early to judge any of these kids from this draft, Rivers included.

[Soundless1]

Rivers has had to fight perception. Many analysts think he is going to be a failure, they believe he will have trouble adjsting to the pg position. He played tenetively and timidly when the season started. He also assumed that he would get fouls and tried to draw contact in a league with an obvious and subjective hierarchy. He just needs to keep adjusting and focus on fighting for respect through his play and nothing else. The only person I would have taken ahead of him is Meyers Leonard. However, I did believe Gordon would be healthy so I didn't see the need for another guard, with Henry already on the squad and the potential to get Crawford in free agency

[BeeBall Reasons]

Yeah I had lamb and TJ over Rivers. I really like TJ even still. I think Rivers' wall will be finishing over NBA bigs, they have much better lateral quickness and Rivers doesn't beat them to the rim.

[AD23nEG10]

Henson is intriguing

[WisconsinHornet]

I am trying to be objective and really look at all the prospects and if you put me back on that day, 10th pick, same guys off the board ahead of him and I cant even think of another guy that I would consider taking. A couple of guys are playing slightly better, but none of those guys (Nicholson, Zeller, D. Green, etc.) have any real upside. If I couldgo back in time, it would still be Austin at ten for me

It's a great point and I agree with you 100%. I think what got a lot of us kinda bummer is that we were so close to having Drummond fall to us and wow that a coup that would have been. It was kind of like missing out on the Powerball by one number and having to settle for a $100,000 prize (at least that's how I felt at the moment). But when you look at it a certain way, Austin fills a huge need and has all the tools and intangibles to be a lifelong Hornet. Great pick and I think he's more exciting/fun to watch than Anthony Davis. Davis is boring - I love him but he's so boring haha.

[carpo_07]

I think the general consensus is pretty much that there was no better pick we could have made at 10, obviously if we could have traded the pick for 2 lower 1sts that would have been better, but remember we supposedly tried that with Hou and it didn't work. The only way I could have been happier would have been to grab Terrence Jones in conjunction with someone like Jeremy Lamb or Andrew Nicholson.

Although with EG's ability to be permanently injured Austin is a good pick for the future. I initially hated the pick but having seen him play, I have no doubt he will develop into a good starter-quality combo guard. With the right pieces (AD, Randerson and maybe even EG) he will be more than good enough to give us 35 mins a night.

[Eman5805]

Only thing I'd do different is figure out who we'd need to kidnap or brainwash to trade up to draft Damian Lillard. Other than that, eh. I was a little worried going in. But I'm not as much now.