NBA Draft 2012: Why the Phoenix Suns Should Select Austin Rivers

Austin Rivers, who was highly touted out of high school, had an underwhelming season. He definitely had some high points, but nonetheless, his draft stock has fallen. It has fallen enough so that the Phoenix Suns might have a chance to grab him, which could possibly be a franchise-altering move. 

Some common knocks on Austin Rivers are his poor shot selection and bad attitude. Given that Steve Nash stays (which is possible), Rivers will fix his problems early on and possibly become a star in the NBA. The perception that he has poor shot selection mostly stems from the fact that he jacks up shots when he gets in trouble on offense.

However, if he can learn to play without the ball, which he will likely do playing with Nash, then he will take fewer bad shots. He has good ball-handling skills, but Rivers has a high enough basketball IQ to know that playing off the ball with Steve Nash will only lead to success. His bad attitude often stems from frustration over bad shooting nights. However, as mentioned above, he will have fewer bad shooting nights with Steve Nash.

Austin Rivers actually has some very desirable traits for the NBA. He can shoot, which will make him very successful next to Nash. He could easily slide into the starting shooting guard spot and score 15-20 points a night just based on the open looks he will get playing with a guard like Nash.

If Michael Redd can succeed with Nash, Rivers can as well. His ability off the isolation will be valuable to any team, and the Suns are no exception. Realistically, the Suns can't play Nash 48 minutes, so when he's off, Rivers will still find ways to score, which is invaluable to a team with offensive players that all require Nash to catalyze the scoring.

His mentality is what really pushes him to another level. Rivers honestly believes he can make every shot, which is why his remedy for bad shooting nights is to shoot more. Although some find this bad, it is actually incredibly important to success.

At the end of the day, confidence is the most valuable trait to have. That is why Perry Jones III will never be the first option for a championship team. He doesn't posses the confidence level of someone like Austin Rivers.

You can teach players how to shoot and run an offense, but you can never teach confidence. Confidence is what makes Kobe Bryant so good. When the game is on the line, Kobe is confident that he can make any shot he takes. That might lead to some ill-advised shots, but it will also lead to wins.

That's what Austin Rivers can bring to the table that some other picks can't. That is what might lead to success. True, it didn't lead to the Final Four in college, but then again, Rivers was only a freshman, meaning that he can still develop enough to lead a championship squad.

The right mentality is actually very hard to find. In fact, as deep as this draft supposedly is, only four or five players actually have the mentality to succeed, and as a result, only four or five players in this draft will make any real contributions to their teams. 

If the Suns pick Rivers, they will certainly have some work ahead of them to mold him into a star. However, he already has the two most important traits of an NBA star: scoring ability and confidence. That's all the Suns can ask for if they want to make it back to the playoffs.