The Fan Hub

There’s no question the New Orleans Hornets will be fun to watch for the next few seasons. Coming off a 21-45 season, the team had the #1 and #10 draft picks in June, which they used to bring in big man Anthony Davis and guard Austin Rivers. As they look to structure their lineup around young talent, the Hornets are now attempting to groom Rivers into a pure point guard.

At Duke, Rivers was a combo guard. He thrived more as a shooting guard, but the Blue Devils desperately needed a ball handler, so often times he had to play the point. He had an assist to turnover ratio of .90 and pure point rating -2.85. Some labeled Rivers as selfish, but his ball handling and uncanny ability to get to the basket impressed the Hornets.

After trading veteran point guard Jarrett Jack to the Warriors, New Orleans will need Rivers to learn quickly. Assistant coach James Barrego feels it is Rivers’ “time to grow” and the team’s “future is really bright, and hopefully Austin’s that guy that can take that point guard position and run with it.” Rivers has shown his ability to play at a high pace, but the Hornets want him to be able to slow things down. Barrego claimed, “we want him to be aggressive” but he needs find a “balance.”

Moving Rivers to point guard was also done to allow him to share the court with Eric Gordon. The 23-year-old recently signed a contract 4-year, $58 million deal with the Suns, but the Hornets will match it. He has played exceptionally well and improves each year. Although he spent most of last season injured, he came back for the final 9 games and was still able to average 20.6 points.

Barrego feel that Rivers and Gordon will “thrive together in the backcourt” and is excited to build around them. After the departure of Trevor Ariza, New Orleans is lacking at the small forward position. However, this will give rookie Darius Miller a chance at playing time. Miller and Davis were teammates at Kentucky and many feel that he was a steal after being selected in the second round. He was the only senior on the national champion team, and Barrego praises his ability to quickly learn and his maturity.

Although the Hornets might not make much of a splash next season, they have easily the most potential to be a force in years to come. As we witnessed with the Thunder, when a team builds around young talent, they can be very successful.

— Tim Moczula