Philadelphia 76ers: See you at the trade deadline, Austin Rivers

Could Austin Rivers still bolster the Philadelphia 76ers’ backcourt after all?

For much of the post-draft, pre-free agency period, the Philadelphia 76ers were linked to one free agent above all others: Austin Rivers.

In theory, the connection was a rather obvious one.

The son of head coach Doc Rivers who played for the Clippers from 2014-18 and then under Daryl Morey as a member of the Houston Rockets for 137 games, Austin pretty much fit the bill of what the Sixers were looking for to fill out their bench. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, the younger Rivers is a capable ball-handler who can switch effortlessly off and on the ball depending on who he’s sharing a backcourt with.

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Whether tasked with playing shooting guard alongside Ben Simmons, playing point guard coming off the bench, or effortlessly shifting between the two for the better part of 25 minutes a night, Rivers is the type of guard any team would like to have on their roster, regardless of how their roster is composed.

Honestly, after watching literally every Sixers-related rumored signing prove to be untrue, the fact that a Rivers Family Reunion – now featuring Austin’s brother-in-law Seth Curry – remained a hot topic of discussion should have been the first clue that it simply wasn’t going to happen.

Factor in the New York Knicks’ decision to pass on *NSFW* Stephen A. Smith’s favorite player, Tyrese Halliburton, for slam dunking specialist Obi Toppin, and Fred VanVleet’s decision to swerve the Big Apple for a return back to Toronto via Tampa Bay, and it’s entirely possible Rivers’ market just became a bit too rich for a team like the Sixers with only so many ways to improve their roster in free agency.

But hey, it’s cool. See you at the trade deadline, Austin Rivers.

As things presently stand, the Sixers have two trade exceptions that expire in 2021, a $1.8 million exception from flipping James Ennis to the Magic, and a $2.65 million exception from trading Josh Richardson to the Mavericks for Seth Curry. They also have an exception that will become official once the Al Horford-Danny Green trade is formally announced, which is reported to be worth roughly $8.6 million and will last through November of 2021.

Why does this matter? Well, because the Sixers are going to be good, in need of a little more backcourt help, and have very little money to spend on free agents outside of their $5.7 million mid-level exception, and the Knicks are going to be decidedly less good and may be willing to flip a free agent addition like Rivers for second-round picks if they have sub-20 wins before the trade deadline.

Just for context, the Knicks only had 16 wins before the 2020 NBA trade deadline rolled around on February 6th, 2020, so that outcome isn’t all that farfetched.

Even if the Knicks decided to frontload Rivers’ deal with $4 million in 2020-21, and then $3 million in each subsequent season, the Sixers would be able to swap a single player at or near the veteran minimum, let’s just say recently signed free agent forward Ryan Broekhoff for argument’s purposes, alongside their $2.65 million trade exception and it would be 100 percent legal.

Who knows, maybe this is the year Dennis Smith Jr. finally comes into his own, and Rivers becomes dependable due to his overlapping skillset with fellow free agency addition – and ex-Sixer – Alec Burks. Either way, it’s hard not to expect the Knicks to at least have some interest in selling at the 2021 deadline, with players like Rivers surely available for the right price.

Next. Marc Gasol thankfully leaves Joel Embiid and the East. dark

When ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski initially announced that Austin Rivers was signing a one-year deal with the New York Knicks, it felt a bit too good to be true. Ultimately, it was, as the NBA’s favorite new bomber had to correct his initial reports and give the deal’s actual conditions. But with that being said, Rivers very well still could be had at the deadline depending on how the season shakes out, and if that happens, expect the Philadelphia 76ers to be players if not outright favorites to land the 28-year-old combo guard. I mean, Daryl Morey did explicitly make moves to create trade exceptions to further fortify his roster; why wouldn’t the Philadelphia 76ers use them?