NBA Draft Insider

College: Duke

Birthday: 08/01/1992

NBA Position: SG

Class: Freshman

Ht: 6-4

Wt: 195

Hometown: Winter Park, FL

High School: Winter Park High School

Ceiling: 

Basement: Antonio Daniels

NBA Comparison: Monta Ellis

Strengths:

• Athletic
• Quick, Elite 1st Step
• Ball-Handling
• Aggressive Penetrator
• NBA 3pt Range

Weaknesses:

• Undersized Scoring Guard
• Strength
• Decision-Making
• Shot Selection
• Defensive Liability
• Court Vision

Analysis:

05/10/2012

Duke freshman star guard Austin Rivers has declared for the NBA Draft hiring agent David Falk for representation.

After an up-and-down freshman campaign Rivers declared for the draft. The talented scoring guard played struggled at times in the college system to fit in. With the ball in his hands Rivers was a tough player to guard at all times.

On offense Rivers has an elite first step that he uses to get around any defender in front of him.

The combination of offensive skills Rivers has is unrivaled among his peers. Rivers is a high level three-point shooter to compliment his ball-handling ability. As a one-on-one scorer Rivers is a nightmare problem. He did not shoot the ball at a great percentage from deep as a freshman shooting 36.5% from deep.

On this particular Duke team Rivers was the only play-maker off of the dribble. They did not have other options or really any players as athletic as Rivers. He was the sole option as a play-maker for himself, and for others. Offensively Rivers is a handful, but may not be the size he is listed as. Rivers is generally listed at 6-4, but not many believe he is more than 6-2.5 or even 6-3 at the most.

The defensive end of the floor is where Rivers seemed to struggle the most. He was a defensive liability in the half court struggling with defensive concepts. He did not have the ability to consistently stay in-front of players.

Athletically Rivers has the tools to become a quality defender. He has very good speed and quickness, but his footwork is not at an elite level yet. As the son of a coach Rivers has the tools around him to mentally and physically become a good NBA defender.

As of today Rivers is the No. 4 shooting guard, is going No. 10 Overall in the Mock Draft, and is the No. 18 prospect on the Big Board.

02/12/2012

Just a fearless scorer/shooter; see Duke v. North Carolina. Rivers has proven to be just as advertised, a dynamic offensive threat with the ball in his hands. He has an amazingly quick first step used to blaze past defenders. On top of that Rivers has a bag of tricks as a ball-handler to get around even the better defenders. Once he establishes his penetrating skills Rivers can knock down shots from virtually anywhere with space. Again, see Duke v. North Carolina. Offensively Rivers is as talented as they come.

The scoring stands out for Rivers, but the son of a coach (Doc Rivers) is not quiet there yet as a play-maker or defender. He has not inherited dad’s feel for the game on either end just yet, but he is only a freshman. On defense Rivers is far from a quality defender and needs to work on his foot-work and decision-making on that end. On offense if Rivers can show the court sense to hit his open teammates when the defense collapses on him it will be an improvement. Watching Rivers it seems he goes into one-on-one mode with the ball in his hands and can forget his teammates are there for the most part.

Rivers as a freshman seems like a swing for the fences prospect. He could pan out to be the games next great scorer and change a franchise. On the flipside he could be a liability on defense and as a teammate not getting his teammates involved. Another year in college for a guard would make sense. He would have the chance to go into the summer with his teammates, add strength, and get another year of Coach K on defense. His legend is being created and the hype machine may make him a Top 5 pick when all is said and done.

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