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NBA Mock Draft 2012: Houston Rockets Linked With Austin Rivers, John Henson

In RealGM's last mock draft before the NBA draft lottery next week, the site has the Houston Rockets taking Duke SG Austin Rivers with the No. 14 overall pick and UNC PF John Henson with the No. 16 pick.

The Rockets, with two mid-first round picks in what's being called the deepest draft in the last five years, could be at the center of a lot of pre-draft trade action over the next month.

Houston already has a deep roster full of NBA-caliber players; what the Rockets are missing is a star, which is why they've just missed the playoffs the last three seasons.

And while both Rivers and Henson don't project as All-NBA type players on the next level, both are extremely interesting players with the potential to have a big impact on a team like Houston.

Rivers, the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, is a 6'4 shooting guard with a lightning-quick release and a scorer's mentality. In one season at Duke, he averaged 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on 43% shooting while making a large number of late-game high-profile shots.

None was bigger than the buzzer-beating three-pointer he knocked down to defeat Henson's UNC team at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Henson, a long-limbed 6'10 200 forward with a 7'4 wingspan, has the potential to be a game-changing defensive force in the front-court due to his combination of length and activity.

Both players would have been top 10 picks last season, but in this extremely deep draft, they could be available well into the middle of the first-round.

For more coverage of the Houston Rockets off-season plans, check out The Dream Shake.

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