2019 NBA Draft Profile: Kevin Porter Jr.
By Ethan Smith
Weaknesses
One of the biggest knocks against Kevin Porter Jr is that we just haven’t seen all that much of him. A leg injury kept Porter out for ten games and a suspension ended his season after just 21 games played. We’ve seen players play very little in college (Kyrie Irving) and be fine, but Porter is still very raw and will need some serious development.
A part of that development will be focused on changing Porter’s strange shot mechanics. It’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist levels of ‘yikes’. But it worked for Porter at USC…kind of.
In his freshman year, Porter averaged over three three-point attempts per game (3.2) and made a great 41.2 percent of them. Overall, he shot over 50 percent from the field on the season. We don’t see that all too often from the guard position. But Porter also barely shot over 50 percent from the foul line (52.2 percent), which is often felt to be a better barometer of a player’s shooting ability. Despite Porter’s rim-rattling drives, he only averaged 2.2 free throws a game. The small sample size may be the reason for the poor free-throw percentage, but the inability for such a driving, physical guard to get to the line may be another concern altogether.
Porter is also a bit of character concern, as he seems to lack discipline both on and off the court. Porter’s freshman year was cut short due to suspension and he clashed with head coach Andy Enfield. Many questioned Portor’s drive and motivation while with the Trojans, too.
On the court, he averaged more turnovers (1.9) than assists (1.4). These could be things that Porter, still a teenager, grows out of. Or they could be habits that follow him well throughout his NBA career.