Austin Rivers turned down a chance to play with the Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors wanted shooting guard Austin Rivers, but Rivers, the son of Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, wanted the Houston Rockets.

As it turns out, the Golden State Warriors may have to eliminate both Rivers in the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, for Austin Rivers, they gave him a chance to join the dark side, and he opted to sign with the Rockets.

Per The Athletic’s Alykhan Bijani, Rivers said that “Golden State was in the mix.” Rivers, talking about where he was planning to sign after being bought out earlier this season, eventually, as we all know, opted to join the Houston Rockets.

Rivers signed a deal with the LA Clippers in the offseason of 2016. He was dealt to the Washington Wizards on June 28, in a trade that opened up cap space for the Clippers to make a run at high-profile free agents this upcoming offseason.

After 29 games, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns for small forward Trevor Ariza. The 26-year-old never saw a single minute in the Suns jersey as he was waived just a day after the finalization of the trade.

Six days later, he was a Rocket.

Now, he may be the Warriors kryptonite.

Will Austin Rivers ultimately be the reason the Warriors lose the series? No, he won’t be. But, since he’s returned from his Game 1 absence, the Rockets have been noticeably better with him on the court.

Rivers has been the Rockets unsung hero through the last two games. He’s averaged 11 points per game on 8-for-14 shooting. Overall, he’s a +19 in just over 31 minutes of play. Tack on 6-for-10 from three, and it’s easy to how efficient Rivers has been against Golden State.

Also assigned to Curry on the defensive end, Rivers has played terrific defense on the two-time MVP.  In the last two games, Curry has taken 12 shots while guarded against Rivers and made just four of them.

While Curry’s been awful from all over this series, he’s certainly not cooking up Rivers. That said, given his offensive efficiency and defensive prowess, Rivers might be looking at a big uptick in minutes for the remainder of the series.

Looking back, just think of what could’ve been. The Warriors replace Patrick McCaw with Austin Rivers and win their third straight title with a top-notch bench guard. Maybe even the Warriors meet McCaw in the Finals and Rivers crosses McCaw up for the game-winner in Game7.

Alright, now we’re getting way too into fantasy land. Let’s get back to reality and prepare for Game 4 which will take place at 9:30 p.m. EST.