Wiz of Awes
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NBA Playoffs 2015: Otto Porter’s Emergence Gives Washington Wizards More Hope For Future

By Ben Mehic

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When people talk about the Washington Wizards, they often refer to them as a “young” team. After they beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round last year and swept the Toronto Raptors in their first round match up in this year’s playoffs, it surprised a lot of those who believed Washington was too inexperienced.

But to those who’ve followed the Wizards, their recent success hasn’t been surprising.

Ernie Grunfeld made a series of moves over the past few years that shifted Washington’s rebuilding process. The team traded Nick Young and JaVale McGee, and used their amnesty provision to waive Andray Blatche.

Grunfeld acquired veteran big man Nene from the Denver Nuggets, and traded Rashard Lewis’ contract to the New Orleans Hornets for veterans Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor.

A few years later, Grunfeld traded Okafor’s contract along with a first round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Marcin Gortat.

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The team essentially traded every young player on their roster besides John Wall, Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin.

Before last year’s playoff run, Grunfeld continued to stockpile veterans, completely abandoning the idea of acquiring and developing young players.

He traded former sixth overall pick Jan Vesely for Andre Miller. He also signed Al Harrington and Drew Gooden, who made up the ‘AARP’ unit off the bench.

Basically, the Wizards had become an old team in just a few seasons. Their preference for veteran talent was evident this past summer too after Grunfeld signed the likes of Paul Pierce, Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair.

Washington is not a young team. To those who follow the Wizards, it was evident before the season that their window for success was extremely small.

Of course, Washington is going to go as far as John Wall and Bradley Beal can take them.

But then what? What happens when the veteran players inevitably begin to hang up their sneakers, which doesn’t seem too far in the future?

Those questions arose when Grunfeld traded last year’s second round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers that turned out to be Jordan Clarkson in exchange for cash considerations.

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More importantly, questions surrounding the team’s not so distant future arose when Otto Porter, who the team picked third overall in 2013, didn’t seem to be a part of Washington’s plans going forward.

For a reason that still isn’t clear, Randy Wittman continued to play backups Rasual Butler and Martell Webster over Porter during the regular season.

Butler was a late addition to the roster after he received an invite to training camp, but flourished earlier in the season.

He competed with Kyle Korver as the NBA’s best marksman, but of course, his shooting dipped drastically after the All-Star break.

Then Wittman turned to Webster, who was coming off his third back surgery. Webster looked ready to call it a career and never actually found his rhythm.

Wittman has always given his veteran players the benefit of the doubt, but for whatever reason, never really gave his young players legitimate chances.

Glen Rice Jr., who won Summer League MVP just before the start of the regular season, was waived following another stint in the D-League. Rice was deemed uncoachable and Washington terminated their relationship before his contract became guaranteed.

Given the rest of the players’ struggles, Wittman finally gave Porter a chance to play during the latter half of the season and the former Georgetwon Hoya thrived.

Playing along side Wall, Beal and the rest of the starters made life a lot easier for the young swingman. He wasn’t very consistent, but he still showed flashes of why the Wizards became enamored with him during the 2013 NBA Draft process.

Fast-forward a few months and Otto Porter has become a key part of Wittman’s rotation.

Wittman has embraced the small-ball idea in the playoffs and Porter has thrived in the lineup.

He’s played over 30 minutes in each of Washington’s seven playoff games thus far and played 40 minutes in Game-3 against the Atlanta Hawks.

In those 40 minutes, Porter finished the game with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. In the playoffs, Porter is averaging over 11 points, 8 rebounds on 52 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent shooting from three.

He’s finally gotten a chance to play and his confidence has skyrocketed.

Otto Porter is doing all of the little things that it takes to win games–whether it’s hitting a timely three from the corner, getting a crucial rebound or running in transition–and his growth throughout the past few weeks has been tremendous.

Otto Porter’s unexpected emergence surprised a lot of NBA pundits, but to those who’ve watched him play since his days as a Hoya, none of his recent success is surprising. Paul Pierce has instilled a sense of confidence in Porter and every shot he’s taking feels like it’s going to go in.

When people talk about Washington’s future, it’s impossible to leave Otto Porter out of the conversation. John Wall and Bradley Beal will remain the focal points, but Porter has already developed into the most versatile player on the Wizards’ roster.

Having the capability to play on both ends of the floor is huge in the NBA nowadays. Otto Porter is the perfect fit next to Washington’s young core and playing time is all he needed to prove it.

Otto Porter has become irreplaceable and Washington’s future suddenly looks a lot brighter.

Next: How Paul Pierce Has Transformed the Wizards

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