Free agent guards John Wall and Austin Rivers are desperately trying to get back into the NBA. And can you blame them? It’s hard to find work that pays so well.
Plus, Wall and Rivers clearly love the game, because they’ve already made their money. They just want to play and believe they can contribute to a winning program. At least, that’s the theory.
Per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report/TNT, Wall and Rivers worked out for NBA talent evaluators on Wednesday, with representatives from 10-15 teams in attendance.
You can never have a shortage of veteran guards, particularly if you’re a playoff contender — and especially with as many injuries as the NBA experiences these days. There are so many the league even made rules before the season to keep guys on the court. It hasn’t worked.
Anyway, Wall is a former No. 1 pick who showed he still had some game left during a run with the Clippers last season, when he averaged 11.4 points and 5.2 assists in 34 appearances. He was then traded to the Rockets at the deadline in February, immediately waived, and hasn’t been on a team since. He might be worth a flyer i he takes the veteran’s minimum.
Wall is represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who represents tons of players and tends to find work for his guys. So that might make Wall a natural for the Lakers (LeBron James, Anthony Davis) or the Cavaliers, who are missing an injured Darius Garland. All are clients of Paul.
For the record, it is not known if the Lakers or Cavs were represented at the workout.
Meanwhile, Rivers is a 10-year veteran who spent last season with the Timberwolves, appearing in 52 games and averaging 4.9 points in a limited role. The son of former coach and current ESPN analyst Doc Rivers, Austin has also spent time with the Nuggets, Knicks, Rockets, Wizards, Clippers and Pelicans.
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