Veteran guard Austin Rivers agrees to one-year deal with Timberwolves

After making the Rudy Gobert trade, the Timberwolves have a few spots open on their roster and only a little room under the cap to follow them.

They gave another of those spots to veteran guard Austin Rivers, who agreed to a one-year minimum deal, a source confirmed.

Rivers, 29, will be entering his 11th season on his seventh different team. Last season he played 67 games and started 18 in Denver under current Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly after signing a one-year contract in the previous offseason.

During the season, Rivers averaged six points and 22.1 minutes per game. An early slump and eight-game stint in the league's health and safety protocols turned into an impressive stretch between Dec. 17 and Jan. 28 in which he hit 40.5% of his threes and continued his defensive work to cement his place on the roster.

Rivers, the son of 76ers coach Doc Rivers, is a career 35% three-point shooter. In 2021-22, his 0.8 steals per game were the second-highest in his career.

His main contributions to the Nuggets last season came defensively. Coach Mike Malone played Rivers an average of 26 minutes per game in the first four games of the first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.

Rivers joins recent signee Bryn Forbes as backcourt depth. Forbes also played for Denver last season.

The Wolves will play road games at Miami on Oct. 4, vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Oct. 6, at the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 9 and at the Lakers on Oct. 12 before their lone home game.

The full regular season NBA schedule will be released in August.