Hornets give Davis help by taking Rivers with No. 10 ovberall pick
The New Orleans Hornets, who took 6-11 Anthony Davis with the first overall pick of Thursday's NBA draft, provided Davis with some perimeter help with their second pick in the first round, taking Duke guard Austin Rivers with the No. 10 overall selection.
A year ago Rivers and Davis were considered Nos. 1 and 2 rated high school players in the country. They posed for the cover of SLAM Magazine together and teamed on the West squad at the 2011 McDonald's All-American Game.
"We're friends," Rivers said, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune. "... The fact that we get to go to a new place and embark on this journey together is pretty cool. I think anybody can mesh with Anthony Davis. We're already great friends, so I think that on the court it is going to be even more natural.""
The 6-5 Rivers played just one season at Duke and is the son of Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.
Austin Rivers averaged 15.5 points this past season, and the high point of his season came when he hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat North Carolina by a point at Chapel Hill, N.C.
"I feel really good," Hornets general manager Dell Demps told the Times-Picayune. "I think with Davis and his defensive presence, then Austin, with his offensive upside (and) playmaking abilities along with Eric (Gordon). I'm hoping we're going to be really hard to guard and to score on.
"These guys are 19. They're going to take their bumps and bruises."
