Austin Rivers: Undecided on player option

Rivers inked a three-year, $35 million contract with the Clippers in the summer
of 2016, and the deal includes a player option worth roughly $12.7 million for
2018-19. The 25-year-old missed 21 games last season, but it was nonetheless the
most productive year of his career, so he’ll likely find suitors should he
decline the option. However, given that only a handful of teams project to have
significant cap room, it may be in Rivers’ best interest to exercise the option
and hit the market as an unrestricted free agent in 2019, when more teams are
expected to have flexibility. Rivers averaged 15.1 points, 4.0 assists, 2.4
rebounds and 1.2 steals in 33.7 minutes per game in 2017-18 — all career-bests.