Austin Rivers to L.A. in 3-team deal

ByMarc Stein ESPN logo
Friday, January 16, 2015

Austin Rivers is headed to Hollywood to make history playing for his father, Doc, with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers acquired Austin Rivers on Thursday in a three-team deal with the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns.

The Clippers sent former first-round pick Reggie Bullock to the Suns and swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 second-round draft pick to the Celtics. Boston also acquired Phoenix big man Shavlik Randolph in the trade and generated a $2.4 million trade exception.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Rivers will become the first son to play for his father when he makes his first appearance with the Clippers. Coby Karl was briefly a member of the Nuggets in 2010 under father George Karl, but Coby did not play for Denver during that stint, which occurred while his father -- now an NBA analyst for ESPN -- was on leave recovering from throat cancer.

As Clippers president of basketball operations, the elder Rivers had the authority to sign off on acquiring his 22-year-old son.

Asked last week whether he might be inclined to show favoritism toward his son, Doc Rivers said, "I probably show favoritism to Blake [Griffin] and Chris [Paul]. I love my son, but I think I'm going to still favor Blake and Chris and those guys."

ESPN.com has learned the Clippers will waive veteran guard Jordan Farmar to create the roster room needed for the deal. The Boston Herald reported Thursday via Twitter that the Celtics plan to release Douglas-Roberts.

The Clippers, by virtue of waiving Farmar, now are widely expected to pursue Nate Robinson, who has agreed to terms on a buyout with the Celtics after Boston acquired him from Denver earlier in the week. The Celtics requested waivers on Robinson on Thursday.

The Celtics acquired Austin Rivers on Monday as part of the three-way deal Boston struck over the weekend with Memphis and New Orleans to send Jeff Green to the Grizzlies. But the Celtics, sources said, immediately told Rivers he didn't need to report to Boston, telling him they would work to trade him to the Clippers.

The Celtics now have made nine trades involving nine teams since the start of the season, including four trades in five league business days, redefining the familiar NBA scheduling term four in five.

Boston is armed with as many as 14 potential picks over the next two drafts, including what's likely to be six first-rounders and two early second-rounders via Philadelphia.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has maintained a desire to rebuild his team through draft and development, and hopes that Boston's draft picks will give it the ammunition necessary to also seek trades for impact players.

Rivers was drafted 10th overall by New Orleans in 2012 after one season at Duke. He averaged 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 21.4 minutes in 35 games this season for the Pelicans. In 165 games in three seasons with New Orleans, he averaged 6.9 points, 2.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 21.4 minutes.

Bullock was drafted by the Clippers with the 25th pick in 2013. The 6-foot-7 former North Carolina star averaged 2.6 points and 10.5 minutes in 25 games this season for the Clippers. In 68 games in two seasons with Los Angeles, he averaged 2.6 points, 1.4 rebounds and 9.7 minutes.

"Reggie Bullock is a talented young player we have liked for a while," Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said. "He shoots the ball very well and he has the potential to be a good perimeter defender."

Douglas-Roberts signed with the Clippers in September. He averaged 1.6 points, 1.0 rebounds and 8.6 minutes in 12 games for Los Angeles this season.

Randolph, in his second tour of duty with Boston, adds some size to the Celtics' bench and could give the team the flexibility to make yet another move if a contender inquires about veteran Brandon Bass before the Feb. 19 deadline. He played 16 games this season for the Suns, averaging 1.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 6.3 minutes.

Information from ESPN.com's Chris Forsberg, Arash Markazi and Brian Windhorst, and The Associated Press is included in this report.

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