Doc Rivers Focused on Positives After Celtics Fail to Land Son Austin

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Jun 29, 2012

Doc Rivers Focused on Positives After Celtics Fail to Land Son AustinAustin Rivers may not be suiting up in Celtic green next season, but his father, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, isn't going to dwell on the negatives of Thursday's NBA Draft

Though the Celtics weren't able to trade up for Austin Rivers, Doc Rivers' joy for his son far outweighed any disappointment he may have had about not being able to coach him next season.

"I was excited for my son," Doc Rivers said. "I hope you understand that I was far more excited today for my son. This has been a dream for him. We were sitting there and we got the call. It's funny, I've been in the league so long, even though Dell Demps and Monty Williams said they got him, I still didn't believe it until I heard David Stern say 'Austin Rivers' was the pick. I'm just a happy and proud father."

Boston was rumored to be interested in using the No. 21 and No. 22 picks as part of a deal to trade up to Rivers, but they weren't able to get a package to their liking. Instead, New Orleans selected the Duke point guard with the 10th pick of the draft.

The younger Rivers has been familiar with the Celtics organization ever since his father was named head coach in 2004.

"We spent a lot of time with Austin over the last few years around our facility," Celtics assistant general manager Ryan McDonough said. "Doc was actually in our facility this morning, so we talked to him about players and it was neat to see him on the other side of it. We talked to him about our stuff and then we talked to him about Austin, so I'm sure it's exciting for the Rivers family to view this as parents or siblings or whatever, and I think Austin went to a great situation playing with Anthony Davis."

The Celtics can also take solace in the fact that they were able to secure two talented players with their own selections in Ohio State's Jared Sullinger and Syracuse's Fab Melo. Though nothing can make up for not coaching his own son, Doc Rivers has got to be pretty happy with the new additions to his frontcourt, especially if the C's can re-sign Kevin Garnett.

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