NBA Draft 2012: Teams Should Avoid Taking Hyped Guard Austin Rivers in Lottery

Every NBA draft is full of risky picks, but the prospect that teams drafting early should avoid is former Duke guard Austin Rivers.

Rivers has been projected to be a lottery pick since coming out of high school. ESPN's Chad Ford ranks him as the No. 13 player in the class and expects him to go to the Hornets with the No. 10 pick.

Unfortunately, there is little chance the guard can live up to this hype.

There are a lot of things Rivers does well. As the son of NBA coach Doc Rivers, he has a high basketball IQ and knows what it takes to win. He is quick off the dribble and can be a solid scorer from anywhere on the court. He also proved he can be a reliable three-point shooter as he had a 36.5 shooting percentage from deep last season. 

However, it is important to not overlook the negative aspects as well. Not only is he a poor defender, but he often does not make plays that are in the best interest of the team. 

Rivers is a combo guard, but in college he was often asked to run the point. Still, he finished the season with more turnovers than assists. He often looked for his shot rather than others, even if it was not the best option at that time.

The Duke star was able to lead his team in scoring with 15.5 points per game last season, but that was often due to an excessive amount of shots at the expense of the team. In the three postseason games, Rivers shot 5-of-14 from the field in each game. Those games included a loss to Florida State in the ACC tournament and a first-round loss to No. 15 seed Lehigh in the NCAA tournament. 

In the NBA, Rivers will likely struggle, especially in the beginning. He does not have great athleticism and is too one-dimensional to be successful. However, he is the type of confident player that will continue shooting regardless. 

Austin Rivers seems destined to be nothing more than a spark plug off the bench. If he continues to play for himself and not the team, he might not even be a part of an NBA rotation.

This does not describe someone who is worth selecting with a lottery pick on draft day.