Veteran guard Austin Rivers signs one-year deal with Timberwolves

The Timberwolves have made a move to bolster their bench as they continue to reshape their roster this summer. Minnesota is signing veteran combo guard Austin Rivers to a one-year contract, agents Dave Spahn and Aaron Mintz inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 6-foot-4 vet will be signing on for the veteran’s minimum, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News.

Rivers will be reuniting with a familiar face in the Timberwolves front office — Minnesota team president Tim Connelly, who signed a lucrative new deal of his own with the club this summer after a successful extended tenure with the Nuggets. Rivers spent parts of the last two NBA seasons with Connelly and Denver as a key reserve.

After signing a 10-day deal with the Nuggets in April 2021, Rivers quickly proved himself worthy of a roster spot on a postseason contender and was promptly brought back on a rest-of-season deal. He further solidified his role with the club by stepping up as a scorer during the 2021 playoffs. In Denver’s first-round matchup against the Trail Blazers, Rivers averaged 11.5 PPG (while shooting 48.3% from deep), 2.3 APG and 2.2 RPG.

The 29-year-old journeyman re-signed with Denver during the 2021 offseason. He would go on to play a crucial role, largely off the bench, for a guard-deprived Denver club. Across 67 contests, including 18 starts, Rivers averaged 6.0 PPG on .417/.342/.727 shooting splits during 22.1 MPG of game action. He also pulled down 1.7 RPG, dished out 1.3 APG and snagged 0.8 SPG.

Rivers joins a revamped Minnesota club that offloaded much of its veteran depth to add three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, and will serve as a helpful ball-handler off the bench behind projected back-court starters D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards. Another new free-agent signee, Kyle Anderson, will start at small forward, while Gobert will join All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to form a jumbo-sized frontcourt tandem.