Former Duke star Austin Rivers signs deal with Minnesota Timberwolves

Austin Rivers is on the move again. The former Duke star is heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rivers is signing a one-year deal with the Timberwolves, his agents told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski Thursday. He played the last two years with the Denver Nuggets as part of a journeyman NBA career since leaving Durham. Last season, he averaged 6.0 points per game for Denver, which finished 48-34 to come in at sixth in the Western Conference standings — sneaking past the play-in tournament.

Rivers played one year at Duke during the 2011-12 season and put up impressive numbers. He averaged 15.5 points per game to help the Blue Devils to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That’s when they fell to a Lehigh team led by CJ McCollum.

The son of Doc Rivers, Rivers started his NBA career with the New Orleans Hornets, who drafted him No. 10 overall in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Duke. He then spent time with Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks before heading to Denver. The Timberwolves will be his seventh team since entering the league.

But now, he’ll join a Minnesota team that underwent plenty of change this offseason. The Timberwolves made a huge splash earlier this month when they made a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert. Jarred Vanderbilt, Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley and Leandro Bolmaro headed to the Jazz along with six first-round picks, including four future first-rounders. Former Auburn star Walker Kessler — Minnesota’s first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft — was also part of the massive haul of draft picks heading to Utah as part of the deal.

Minnesota is coming off a 46-36 record in 2021-22 to finish seventh in the Western Conference standings. The Timberwolves ended up in the play-in tournament as a result, where they fell to the Memphis Grizzlies.