Austin Rivers

Atlantic Notes: Ewing, Rivers, Nets, Bayless

The 76ers are off, but the other four Atlantic squads will host games tonight, including the Celtics, who can pull into a tie for the Atlantic Division lead with a win against Utah. Here are a few updates out of the division:

  • Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing reiterated his desire to become a head coach, and said if the Knicks don't retain Mike Woodson and the opportunity arises this summer, he'd like to coach the Knicks, with whom he starred as a player, writes Ian O'Connor of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • It's no surprise, but Doc Rivers would jump at the chance to coach his son in the NBA. He remarked that if Austin Rivers comes available when GM Danny Ainge and the Celtics are drafting this June, "I am going to say, 'Danny, you better draft him,'" tweets Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The coach also said his son always had eyes on the NBA, and indicated the plan all along was to be a one-and-done player, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link).
  • For his part, Austin Rivers said on The Dan Patrick Show that he wouldn't mind playing for his dad if the Celtics were to draft him. CSNEE.com has the details.
  • Deron Williams tells Fred Kerber of the New York Post that he could definitely see himself playing alongside Kentucky's Anthony Davis. Of course, two big ifs are left unspoken here: The Nets would have to luck into the first overall pick to land Davis, and Williams would have to re-sign or opt into the final year of his contract.
  • According to coach Dwane Casey, as relayed by Eric Koreen of the National Post, Jerryd Bayless' season-ending oblique injury won't affect how the Raptors view him in free agency.
  • Playing in Canada for the Raptors hardly feels foreign for the well-traveled Alan Anderson, as Koreen writes in a separate piece for the Post.

Rivers Officially Declares For NBA Draft

Duke guard Austin Rivers has announced his decision to leave school and officially declare for the 2012 NBA draft. Rivers, 19, played one season for the Blue Devils in which he averaged 15.5 PPG and 3.4 RPG with a season-high 29 points coming in a buzzer-beating victory over the University of North Carolina. The consenus ACC rookie of the year will hire an agent and is projected to be one the first players selected in the draft.

"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."

The son of Celtics head coach Doc Rivers led his squad to a 2-seed in the 2012 NCAA tournament only to lose in the first round to 15-seed Lehigh University.

Doc Rivers Denies Son Austin Is Entering Draft

6:26pm: Austin Rivers is still deciding whether he will stay at Duke or enter the draft, according to his father, reports Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston (Twitter link)

10:15am: After one season at Duke, Austin Rivers will sign with an agent and forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility, reports Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. Doc Rivers' son will declare for the 2012 NBA draft and could be a lottery pick.

Rivers' Duke career ended prematurely when the Blue Devils were upset by a 15-seed, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In his freshman season, the 6'4" guard averaged 15.5 points and 1.7 three-pointers in 33.2 minutes per game.

Draft Notes: White, Rivers, Jones, Drummond

As ESPN.com's David Thorpe (Insider link) looks back to June 2011 and re-drafts the top 20 based on what we know now, we'll look ahead to this June, with the latest updates on the upcoming NBA draft:

  • Iowa State's Royce White has hired an agent and will enter the draft, reports Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. Goodman hears from several NBA execs that White has likely worked his way into the first round of the draft, though only one of the three mocks we looked at yesterday had White coming off the board in the top 30.
  • One of those mock drafts came from ESPN.com's Chad Ford, who has received feedback from NBA GMs on his top 30 (Insider link).
  • This draft may not be as deep as it looks, since many of the underclassmen who would go in the first round aren't locks to come out of school, says Ford.
  • Multiple GMs told Ford they have Austin Rivers ranked considerably higher than where Ford had him in his mock (21st).
  • Point guards may end up going a few spots higher than they should this year, since it appears there'll be a dearth of point guards in the 2013 draft, says Ford.
  • Perry Jones III and Andre Drummond are viewed as high-risk, high-reward picks. "They get you fired either way," one GM told Ford. "Don't take them and they blow up, everyone asks you what you were thinking. Do take them and they underachieve and everyone says you shouldn't have taken the risk. It's a no-win situation so … you just take them. It's better to swing for the fences and miss than to bunt and miss the chance to hit a home run."
  • Ford also answered plenty of draft-related questions in his ESPN.com chat today.