For all the advances in scouting and analytics in recent years, there's still no substitute for firsthand knowledge of a player's personality and capabilities in the NBA.
Or, at least, that would appear to be Doc Rivers' modus operandi.
Since leaving the Boston Celtics to take over as head coach and vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers has seen his preference for the familiar—friend and foe alike—manifest into a full-fledged trend. If there was someone out there who had either burned or been a productive part of Rivers' squads in the past, that player could almost certainly expect to hear from the former Coach of the Year, assuming the Clippers had a need and a roster spot to fill.