Austin Rivers – New York Knicks
After signing with the New York Knicks this past offseason, Austin Rivers has not held a big role with the Knicks and is a candidate to be bought out of his contract. With the emergence of rookie Immanuel Quickley and New York trading for Derrick Rose, there is not much room for Rivers anymore, which is why the Bucks could be interested in the veteran guard.
Rivers’ contract is a three-year, $9.9M deal, but next year and the third year of his deal is non-guaranteed. He is owed $3.5M this season, making things easy for the Bucks to trade for him since they are financially challenged right now, but it seems more likely that they would target him if he is bought out of his contract.
Now in his 9th season in the league, Austin Rivers has been a part of some really talented teams with the Clippers and Rockets and has been a key contributor off-the-bench over the course of his career. In 573 career games, Rivers has averaged 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and has shot 34.9% from three-point range, making him a key bench contributor for any playoff contending team.
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With the Bucks recently trading D.J. Augustin and not having much backcourt depth, they could look to make a move at the trade deadline for another, proven backcourt talent, which is why Austin Rivers is in play for them.
If they were to trade for Rivers, the Knicks would probably want a second-round pick, which is definitely worthwhile for the Milwaukee Bucks. At this point, the Bucks roster is pretty much finalized, but they do have a roster spot open that they will likely look to add a veteran talent with.
