Doc Rivers knows son could be available when Celtics make draft pick

BOSTON—Now that his son, Austin Rivers, has declared his intention to enter this year’s NBA draft, Celtics coach Doc Rivers has an idea of how Boston’s draft night will go should Austin be on the board when the Celtics pick.

“I am going to say, ‘Danny, you better draft him,’ ” Doc Rivers said, referencing Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “Jokingly. And he could be, that could actually happen and if it happens, it happens. We’re going to do what’s best for the team. I’m just not going to answer my phone. Because my wife will be calling.”

Austin Rivers, a guard, averaged 15.5 points per game as a freshman at Duke and is generally considered a lottery pick. Doc Rivers said reports saying Austin had decided at midseason to enter his name in the draft were no surprise—it had been the understanding of Mike Krzyzewski and Duke’s coaching staff all along that Austin would not be around past this year.

“I think he always wanted to be an NBA player, I don’t think he’s ever hid that,” Doc Rivers said. “Coach K, one of the things he said was, we recruited him as a one-and-done. Same way they recruited Kyrie (Irving, last year’s No. 1 pick). That was part of what they talked to him about a lot before he got there. But he still almost stayed, because he enjoyed it, he enjoyed Coach K. I’m happy for him, I really am. We had input in it, we let him have more input in it, honestly. I am just happy he is kind of at peace and he’s made his decision.”

There have been hits and misses among one-and-done draftees since the NBA instituted the rule that forbade players from entering the draft out of high school. Doc Rivers, though, said he is not concerned about that when it comes to his son.

“I am not thinking about it honestly,” he said. “I think he’s good enough to be a good player for a long time. Having said that, you got to get in the league and find out. I’ve always said, the one-and-dones who haven’t made it, would have been four-year players who didn’t make it. It’s the same as guys who went two years and three years and didn’t do well in the league. It just turns out whether you’re a player or not.”