Washington Wizards’ Otto Porter Might’ve Hurt Max Contract Status In NBA Playoffs
Washington Wizards’ Otto Porter became one of the league’s most improved players this season, but might’ve hurt his max contract status in the NBA Playoffs.
Earlier in the season, even before Otto Porter was the number one 3-point shooter in the league, it was almost a given that the Washington Wizards’ swingman would receive a max contract this summer. Teams outside of D.C., like the Nets, have reported interest in signing Porter to the max deal.
Five Thirty Eight reported that Porter could sign a max contract worth $128.2 million over five-years next summer.
During the regular season, Porter became a standout starter for Washington by consistently hitting outside shots, hustling for loose balls, slashing and creating fast break opportunities off steals. But in the playoffs, Porter began to slip, often failing to stop rookie Taurean Prince defensively.
Porter averaged over 13 points and 6 rebounds on 52 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from three in the regular season. In the playoffs, he’s averaged less than 10 points on 49 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from three.
In order for the Wizards to go deep in the playoffs, they needed shooters on their payroll. They added Bojan Bogdanovic to supplement Porter – not to be a substitute while Porter is in a shooting slump.
Now is the time for Porter to showcase to the rest of the league that he is worth the max.
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In the first game against Atlanta, Porter was outperformed by Kelly Oubre, who scored 11 points and provided energy off the bench.
After going missing for the first four games of the series, Porter finally showed up in Game 5 and scored 17 points. But in Game 6 when Washington finally put away Atlanta, he only had 8 points.
Porter has not been a threat from the 3-point line at all. In fact, he’s been practically invisible. He’s made just 1.2 threes per game in the playoffs, which is nearly half the amount he made during the regular season.
The problem with Otto Porter is that you never know which Otto Porter is going to show up.
Taurean Prince’s numbers have doubled in the postseason against Porter. During the regular season, Prince averaged 5.7 points per game and 2.5 rebounds. Against Porter, the rookie is averaged 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds.
When purely looking at the numbers, it seems as if Prince is more deserving of the contract than Porter.
Scoring a mere 8 points won’t be enough when going up against the first seeded Boston Celtics.
There’s the saying, during the regular season you earn your money and during the playoffs you earn your reputation. If Porter continues this low level of play, he has earned neither. It doesn’t mean he won’t get the max, it just means he didn’t deserve it.
Porter was able to hide under the radar and disappear for most of the first round. But the Boston Celtics will make the Washington Wizards pay for Porters’ disappearing act, especially if he continues to be the team’s weakest link.
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If Porter continues to fly under the radar, he could hurt his chances of actually getting the money he was basically guaranteed not too long ago. He might’ve been able to get away with droughts during the regular season, but it won’t go unnoticed in the playoffs.