I don't "like" Rivers. I just try to step back and look at it as a whole. And if he is in the lobby, so are a lot of guys from his class. Was Jeremy Lamb really better than him last year? And even if so, he definitely wasn't in the second half of the year.
People can't shake the rookie year, specifically the first half, out of there heads - but he had a pretty average year for a 21 yr old guard last year. I mean, it's VERY comparable to someone like Trey Burke, no? Both were 21 last year. And I would bet that the Jazz would pick up a 3.1 mil option for Burke for next year.
Saying he went from the basement to the lobby is a little over the top IMO. I will agree with the basement in the first half of year 1. He was in the lobby in the second half of year 1. 100 floor building - maybe floor 10-12 last year.
I could be right, I could be wrong, but an unbiased, truly objective person would bet on continued improvement from Rivers. The most logical future outcome