Austin Rivers is being groomed strictly to play point guard for the Hornets.

“I think now it’s his time to grow,” Hornets assistant coach James Barrego said. “We’re putting the ball in his hands. … Our future’s really bright, and hopefully Austin’s that guy that can take that point guard position and run with it.”

Rivers will get most of his Summer League playing time at the point guard position in hopes that it will become a full-time job.

“He understands the game, which you want in a point guard,” Barrego said. “His instinct is to score. But we’re trying to slow him down, learn our offense, learn our pace, learn our rhythm, and I think those are things he’s going to get.



“He’s slowly working his way in. We want him to be aggressive. We don’t want to take away that instinct, that advantage he is for us. So he’s got to have a balance, but he can’t be in that mode full-time. You can’t be an aggressive point guard all the time, but we want him to put pressure on the defense any time he can.”