In a Cavaliers camp full of injuries, can undrafted rookie Craig Porter Jr. emerge like his predecessor Matthew “Delly” Dellavedova and become an indispensable member of the team?
Wichita State is not a school that attracts much attention in the NCAA basketball world. In the past ten years, only Landry Shamet, Austin Reaves, and Fred VanVleet have made a name for themselves in the NBA. However, on the day of the 2023 draft, after Emoni Bates was selected with the 49th overall pick, the Cavaliers front office took active actions and tried every means to buy or trade a pick at the end of the second round. Members of the front office team, headed by Basketball President Altman, went to Wichita State to observe Porter up close and arranged two personal interviews. The Cavaliers, who are very discerning in evaluating guards, believe that Porter Jr. is a pearl in the later stages of this draft.
All efforts to secure a second-round pick failed, and the front office had to go back to basics – praying that no one would draft Porter. Whether it was his school visibility, his age of 23, or his low outside ability, Porter was not selected as the Cavaliers hoped. Porter, who has a two-way contract, performed solidly in the summer league, but he still has no place in a team full of talents. Until November 20th against the Golden Nuggets, in the absence of LeVert, Porter had a masterpiece of 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. At this point, his name gradually appeared in the writings of most Cavaliers media and in the minds of fans.
Some people think that Porter is like Ricky Rubio. The division of tasks when he is paired with Garland does have the flavor of Rubio two seasons ago, but the similarities in style are minimal. Some people argue that Porter’s defense is comparable to that of Eric Snow, but Porter already has a mid-range shooting that Snow does not have. On the other hand, in terms of low-post defense, Porter’s body is not as strong as Snow’s in holding up singles players, so it is easier to end up with fouls. . There are no fancy dribbling moves, he approaches the basket steadily and step by step, he has strong upper body confrontation, and he is good at finding the opponent’s flaws in half-court system battles. In my opinion, Porter is the closest to the original version of the Cavaliers. Former assists king Andre Miller. Miller shot only 21.7% from the three-point line throughout his career, and rarely took more than one outside shot per game in several seasons. Even so, this does not prevent this low-key star guard from being able to dominate the league. The key is to “only do things that are certain and only play certain goals.”
Some players in the NBA are superior to other players in the same position in terms of physical fitness, confrontation, and speed, so they can create a style of play that is “bigger” than their fixed position. Russell Westbrook in his heyday is an obvious example. The data website “cleaningtheglass” shows that Porter Jr. leads 90%, 76%, and 60% of combo guards in the league in terms of blocking, interception, and offensive rebound rate. In mid-November, the Cavaliers ended the early-season slump with a spurt of four wins and one loss. Porter has 13 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds in these five games, shooting 58% from the field. Head coach Bickerstaff praised Porter for earning a spot in the rotation.
As usual, Bickerstaff’s words are quite good, but this time there is an exception. Porter has playing time, but it is quite inconsistent, sometimes even falling behind shooter Sam Merrill. On the one hand, the reason is that the coach is under pressure from the record and has shortened the rotation. Only a few key players on the bench are sent to each game. Another factor is what Bickerstaff mentioned in an interview. The Cavaliers have too many talented players with similar stature in the backcourt, so it is not easy to find opportunities for Porter. This is true, but in fact, if you look at the Cavaliers’ combat style: they rely heavily on backcourt mobilization, the main battle leader has limited support capabilities and is unable to open up the offensive space, and does not have a complex running system. Instead, they should maintain one position on the court at all times. As a floor general, Porter’s ability to sort out offense is a rare trait among rookies.
In the past three games, Porter has assumed the starting guard position, playing 31 minutes, 8.3 minutes and 5.7 rebounds. His assist rate ranks sixth among the starting point guards in the past three games. There are still a few weeks until Garland returns, and LeVert is also suffering from some minor injuries. Porter has the opportunity to continue to gain experience and move towards a more mature backup point guard.
2023-12-26 11:42:04
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