2. Austin Rivers
I thought the idea of Austin Rivers joining the Los Angeles Lakers this season after he was bought out was absolutely absurd. Rivers’ advanced numbers are terrible and there seemed to be no place for him on the roster, particularly in the playoff rotation.
Rivers signed with the Denver Nuggets and proved why playoff teams keep taking the chance on him. While he definitely is not the best player on the floor, Rivers always believes that he is the best player out there and he is the ultimate heat check guy that can swing a run.
He has to be handled with kid gloves because if he is given too much leeway then he is going to take shot after shot and build a brick house. But he is dangerous when he does get going and he is a player that Frank Vogel would know for certain is not going to be afraid to be out there in a big spot.
And even with all of that, he is still an average three-point shooter across the regular season that can provide depth in the rotation. That is important to the Lakers and the potential of him getting red-hot in the playoffs would be the icing on the cake.
Rivers was Davis’ teammate for two and a half seasons in New Orleans, coming into the league at the same time as Davis before being traded in 2015 to the Los Angeles Clippers.