2012 NBA Redraft: How wrong we were in real time
By Corey Rausch
#13 Pick: Austin Rivers (Originally: Kendall Marshall)
This is the kind of draft swap that hurts me personally as I grew up a North Carolina fan so exchanging a Tar Heel for a Blue Devil is not taken lightly. Rivers sliding mixed with Kendall Marshall being taken far too early makes this a pretty easy choice.
The logic behind this pick is sound, selecting a point guard of the future with Steve Nash leaving this summer makes far too much sense. The team re-signed Goran Dragic this summer and he could have played in front of Rivers and allowed the young guard to come into the NBA slowly.
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Clearly it took some time for Rivers to find his niche after being a highly-regarded high school prospect. Fit was always going to be important. Learning under Alvin Gentry would give Rivers a chance to succeed and the relationship the coach has with River’s father could have helped this process further.
Kendall Marshall barely stood a chance and failed to truly translate in the NBA but his basketball IQ has not gone unrewarded as he returned to the University of North Carolina as a student assistant coach for the 2018-2019 season before transitioning to director of recruiting in October 2019.
With the 14th pick in the 2012 NBA Redraft the Milwaukee Bucks select…