Duke Blue Devils: Can Duke's Austin Rivers Be an NBA Star?

The Duke Blue Devils' Austin Rivers' 2011-2012 season proved that he is not ready to be a dominant player in the NBA.

For all of the hype surrounding Rivers entering his freshman year, he hasn't exactly lived up to it.

Don't get me wrong–15.4 PPG, 2.1 APG and 3.4 RPG are solid–but there's more to it than these simple statistics.

Rivers himself has admitted that he needs to mature. At times, he can be selfish, and has had trouble distributing the ball.

For a guard, he leads the Blue Devils in turnovers at 2.3 per game and shoots just 65 percent from the charity stripe.

His defense was also an enormous issue this season, but then again, it was an issue for the entire Duke squad.

Rivers could also improve his shooting percentages, as he's shooting .436 from the field and .368 from three-point range.

Despite some of the negatives, Rivers is a pure scorer, who with some more work and experience under Coach Krzyzewski, would be an asset to any NBA team .

That said, let's take a look at Rivers' scouting report from Walterfootball.com:

Notable Strengths:

• Pure scorer
• Outside shooter
• Limitless range from deep
• Pull-up jumper
• Creating his own shot
• Thrives in one-on-one isolation situations
• Quick crossover, first step
• Outstanding ball-handler
• Utilizes jab step to create space
• Use of floater in the lane
• Creative finisher at the rim
• Body control when attacking the basket
• Doesn't shy away from the big moment  

Notable Weaknesses:

• A bit undersized to be a true NBA shooting guard
• Playing off the ball
• Frequently too selfish
• Handling contact
• Strength
• Toughness as a defender

Walterfootball.com compares Rivers' playing style to Milwaukee Buck's Monta Ellis, and NBADraft.net compares him to his father, Doc Rivers, and OJ Mayo.

Now that we have Rivers' scouting report, let's take a look at a few NBA teams that could use his services.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns have been using a starting lineup lately without a shooting guard–Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye–and would love to add a talent like Rivers. 

There's still the uncertainty of Nash remaining in Phoenix, so Phoenix will definitely be looking towards a guard come draft time. 

Cleveland Cavaliers 

Wouldn't it be fun to see two young and exciting ex- Duke guards in the same backcourt? 

Cleveland is building a franchise around Kyrie Irving, and would probably drool at the idea of adding Rivers. Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker aren't cutting it at shooting guard, but Rivers would be a good fit.

Boston Celtics

How about a father-son combo? 

I don't think it's out of the question for Austin and Doc Rivers to join forces in Boston.

Paul Pierce is way past his prime at 34 and Danny Ainge has said that he would trade the Big Three if need be.

Having Rajon Rondo and Austin Rivers in the backcourt would certainly be interesting to see in the East.

In the end, Rivers would be wise to remain at Duke for at least one more year to soak up every thing that Coach K has to offer.

But if he doesn't, there will be a few NBA teams looking to acquire Rivers in the draft.

Follow Pete Schauer on Twitter at @pete_schauer