Austin Rivers averaged a career-low 4.9 points last season, his first with the Minnesota Timberwolves. And the former Duke basketball guard played only 19.5 minutes per game in a reserve role, almost marking another low across his 11 years as an NBA journeyman.
Now more than two weeks into free agency, the 30-year-old Rivers, who went No. 10 overall at the 2012 NBA Draft following his lone campaign with the Blue Devils, is not on contract anywhere for next season.
But according to a report from The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn on Saturday, Rivers is at least on the radar of the Boston Celtics, whose franchise piece is another Duke basketball one-and-done in reigning All-Star Game MVP and First Team All-NBA selection Jayson Tatum:
"Another free agent looking for work is veteran guard Austin Rivers, whom the Celtics have shown interest. Rivers, who played with the Timberwolves last season, is looking for more than a mentor role. Rivers is likely one of those players who will be squeezed out of the free-agent market and seeking an NBA minimum contract."
Rivers isn't the only NBA Blue Devil who could land with the Celtics in some capacity.
Harry Giles III, who worked out for teams last week and was a teammate to Tatum on the 2016-17 squad in Durham, might have a path to end up in New England. However, as Washburn noted, seeing that the 25-year-old big man hasn't been in the league since 2020-21, he may have to be willing to prove his worth in the G League first:
"One intriguing player is former first-round pick Harry Giles, whose career has been beset by injuries and inconsistency...There is a Celtics connection with Giles being a close friend of Jayson Tatum...The Celtics would consider adding Giles to their G League Maine roster and allowing him to build his way back to the NBA. The question is whether Giles, who did not play in the NBA last season, is looking for a standard NBA deal or a training camp invitation."
As things stand, the number of Duke basketball products on an active NBA contract for next season sits at 24, two off the program's record count from 2020 of 26 on an opening-day roster.
That mark remains within reach, though, with Austin Rivers, Harry Giles III, and several others still in play for a contract somewhere.
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