Former Knicks Player Gets Brutally Honest About Derrick Rose Replacing Him

Austin Rivers joined the Denver Nuggets after being traded by the New York Knicks

Traded by the Houston Rockets to the New York Knicks in 2020, veteran guard Austin Rivers never quite panned out in New York. Appearing in just 21 games for the Knicks before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Rivers was then waived by Oklahoma City, and signed with the Denver Nuggets.

While the move to Denver worked out for Rivers, as he played 82 regular season games and 15 postseason games during his two seasons with the Nuggets, what led to his departure from New York is something he admits messed with him.

Recently appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Rivers said, "The Knicks one messed with me for a little bit, because I was having some really good success there early on, and it just felt like the whole time I was there they were kind waiting for me to either not play well or something to happen so they could bring in Derrick [Rose]. That's just how I felt. And I understand that was [Tom Thibodeau's] guy. Thibs has always been a Derrick Rose guy, and I totally understand that. He won an MVP under him. But I was brought there, and from my understanding he wanted Derrick from the beginning, and Leon Rose kinda went my direction. When I came there it just didn't feel like I was ever really - I don't know. It just felt like the cards were stacked against me on that one, and as soon as an opportunity came where we lost a couple, or I didn't play a couple good games, it was just an immediate conversation like, 'Hey we're bringing in Derrick.' I was just like... Then before you know it I was in Denver."

Rivers added that being in Denver was great, but the way his time in New York went is something that bothered him at the time.

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