The Denver Nuggets need every bit of help they can get at the guard position following the loss of Jamal Murray, as they recently brought in Austin Rivers to help fill that void as best as possible.
“We’re going to throw him out there,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “We didn’t sign him for him to come here and hang out. We signed him for him to come here, to play and try to help us win as many games as possible while we have guys out.”
Rivers averaged 7.3 points and 2.2 assists per game in 21 games with the New York Knicks this season. He also knocked down about 37 percent of his catch and shoot 3-pointers this season, as that’ll provide Nikola Jokic another good option to pass out to behind the arc whenever he attracts double teams inside the paint.
More West Notes
- Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly known as Ron Artest and Metta World Peace, said that Tim Duncan is the second-best basketball player to ever live, according to Scoop B of Heavy. “The Big Fundamental” is widely considered the best power forward of all time and has never been part of a San Antonio Spurs team that’s won less than 50 games (with the exception of the 1998-99 50 game lockout season). Duncan is a five-time champion with three Finals MVPs, two-time regular-season MVP and 15-time All-NBA in addition to many other accolades. Having said all of that, Duncan is at least a top 10 player in NBA history; arguably top five.
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Golden State Warriors forward Damion Lee is entering the league’s health and safety protocols for presumably 10-14 days, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Lee is currently averaging 6.5 points per game in his third season with the Warriors.
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban acknowledged in an interview on 105.3 The Fan visit on “K&C Masterpiece.” that Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have their “dust-ups” and aren’t the best of friends, but are “fine” on the court. He likened their relationship to Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry when they first became teammates, as the two were infamously not close to one another at first.
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ICYMI: Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis talked about how important it is to keep his team “afloat” down the stretch when he returns to the court with LeBron James still out. More on that here.
