Austin Rivers: Projecting Where Duke Basketball Star Lands in 2012 NBA Draft

Austin Rivers' incredible, game-winning, as-time-expires three-point dagger Wednesday night did more than just vanquish the North Carolina Tar Heels.

It has cemented his status as a legitimate lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Rivers rose to the moment in the Blue Devils’ biggest game of the year and capped off a stellar night in which he went off for 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and an outrageous 6 of 10 from downtown.

It’s almost a foregone conclusion now that the star shooting guard will be making the jump to the NBA after the season, especially if Duke makes a deep run in the NCAA tournament come March.

Let’s take a look at some teams that would be willing to take a chance on the prospect.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns backcourt is going to need to be overhauled next season when Steve Nash presumably leaves for a contending team.

Right now, the team has thrown out some wild starting lineups, most recently with Nash as the only guard playing alongside Grant Hill, Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye.

As you can see, there’s no true shooting guard there, and the Suns desperately need to add a young talent like Rivers to the fold.

Phoenix should be drafting toward the latter portion of the lottery and would get great value selecting the Duke star.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Here’s another team without a true starting two-guard.

Kyrie Irving is going to be a centerpiece to build this franchise around for years to come, so why not get him an elite teammate in the backcourt.

Rivers proved Wednesday night he has NBA range and also has the ability to slash to the hoop, which makes him a great asset to kick the ball out to or alleviate pressure on Irving to constantly drive into the paint.

This looks like another mid to late lottery pick right now and a perfect spot to draft Rivers.

Boston Celtics

If Rivers falls this far, the Celtics might not have a choice but to draft their coach’s son.

It would be the first time in history that an NBA coach and his son were on the same team and would be an extremely intriguing scenario.

Boston is looking like a playoff-bound team this season, which means it would not have a lottery selection.

Should Rivers be available, the Celtics may have no choice but to select the best prospect on the board.