The Phoenix Suns just barely snuck in the bare end of the lottery, retaining their No. 13 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Now they will use it on one of the top collegiate talents entering the league, and according to SB Nation's Tom Ziller and his latest mock draft, that will be Duke's Austin Rivers this year.
Here is Ziller with the commentary:
13. PHOENIX SUNS: AUSTIN RIVERS
As if the end of the Steve Nash era won't be jarring enough, a volume scorer from Duke added to the mix will provide a nice splash of cold water. "In case you'd forgotten over the past decade of success, this is what it's like to suck, Phoenix."
Rivers would seemingly fit into any system as the prolific scorer that he is, but fans in the desert would love to have a young energetic scoring machine to go with last year's rough-and-tough selection of Markieff Morris, making the veteran Suns of old younger and younger.
For more in depth discussion and analysis of the Phoenix Suns, make sure that you check out Bright Side of the Sun and SB Nation Arizona. For more on the draft and the NBA in general, please head over to SB Nation's dedicated NBA hub.