Austin Rivers Opts Out Of Clippers Contract

By Connor Aylward
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: June 4, 2016

On Thursday Austin Rivers let the Los Angeles Clippers know he would not be coming back on his current contract with the club.

Clippers guard Austin Rivers has decided not to exercise his player option for next season & will test free agency this summer. @ASM_SPORTS

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) June 1, 2016

Rivers, 23, was acquired just before the trade deadline in 2015 in a move that was highly criticized. Many didn’t believe the former tenth overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans could handle playing for his father Doc Rivers. Austin seemed determined to prove them wrong.

The former Duke Blue Devil set career highs in the 2015-16 season in points per game and field goal percentage, knocking in 8.9 ppg while shooting an impressive 44% from the field.

Primarily used as the backup to Clipper superstar Chris Paul, Rivers’ scrappiness and energy are what got him much of his time on the court. Austin was even able to gain himself some valuable starting playoff experience, albeit in a difficult situation with Paul going down injured. Rivers played amazingly in a game that beat him up so bad he was looking like a boxer after it was said and done. But getting 21 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds all while not being able to see very well, against a competition like Damian Lillard in the playoffs may have just earned him a bigger payday.

Is Rivers declining his player option for another year just a way for him to bargain Los Angeles for more money? More than likely, yes. The guard’s game seems to have come alive since his trade to the Clippers, and he looked much more comfortable with his teammates and in the team’s system this last season as well. While we did learn that Austin and Doc have more of a Coach and Player relationship than Father and Son, Doc will have to entertain the idea of bringing his son back to the red and blue. If it’s at the right price.

Thanks for reading along Clipper Nation and keep on coming back to CaliSports for all your Clippers offseason news!

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Clippers and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!