Austin Rivers (PG/SG, HOU) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Short term add in 12-team leagues, long term add in 14-team leagues

OWNED IN: 11% of leagues

ANALYSIS: In the middle of December, no one wanted Austin Rivers. The Wizards traded him to the Suns in that weird non-trade where everyone forget which Brooks they wanted, and then the Wizards actually traded him to the Suns in the follow up deal, at which points the Suns waived him. He finally landed in Houston to be the fourth guard on this Rockets team.

But injuries to Chris Paul (hamstring) and Eric Gordon (knee) have led to an important role for Rivers in Houston, where he has started the past three games for the Rockets. Over that three game sample, Rivers is averaging 17 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting, and he's hitting 3.7 threes per game. His two rebounds and two assists per game aren't anything to write home about, but fantasy owners who need help in points and threes can get that help off the wire with Rivers.

The big question is how long Rivers can keep playing a solid role on this team. His first three games for them did feature Eric Gordon, and Rivers had three 10-point games while averaging 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. His minutes weren't far off what they've been as a starter, with Rivers playing over 30 minutes in every game as a Rocket, though he's played over 40 in each start. Rivers should be good to go still as a deep league fantasy option once Gordon is back in the rotation. The bigger question will be what Rivers' role will look like once Chris Paul returns to the fold, but I don't think that's a huge concern for fantasy owners. Paul could return mid-January, but his injury history suggests that the team will want to take it easy with the veteran, and Rivers should still see ample playing time. He showed some ability to play the three over his final two years with the Clippers, and it wouldn't be a shock to see Houston deploy him there more to help with some of their depth issues.