Kevin Porter Jr. - how good can he be?

How does a more well rounded offensive game and better ballhandling impact his defensive ability?

 

It doesn’t. But you said you heard the “same noise,” implying they are similar prospects. That’s simply not true.

 

Tough to say yet... I erred on the side caution and went with role player due to defense. I view KPJ like Tate, rising blue chip prospects on fantastic rookie contracts.

With the Dipo trade behind us, KPJ is going to be getting a lot of opportunity to run the offense. He's impressed with his playmaking and decision making so his biggest upside for is running an offense. The NBA is full of gunners now, but scoring and dishing is getting to allstar level.

 

That's not what I was implying lol

 

SAY KPJ IS A FCKING MVP OR WE'LL KILL YOU

 

Talking about how one athletic guard never learned to play solid defense does not mean that every athletic guard will fail to learn how to play solid defense.

Highly athletic guards with solid length who don't play good defense are the exceptions, not the rule. It's MUCH more likely that KPJ will be a decent to good defender than a poor one.

 

Perhaps. To date he's been terrible. I hope he turns out be awesome for Houston on that end but have yet to see anything that would suggest that. He's young still. Plenty of time to get better so long as he's willing.

 

I mean Green being a one dimensional player is why he never rose to star level. It wasn't his defensive ability that was holding him back. Harden was a mediocre to poor defender his 4 years or so as a Rocket and he was still a MVP caliber player.

 

Terrible at what? Are you speaking of personal things like the alleged hitting a woman? Or on court? How is he terrible on the court?


Edit: nvm. I'm assuming you mean defense. He's inconsistent in defense. He shows lackadaisical tendencies but then shows he has quick hands and can move his feet well when he puts his mind to it.

 

He's been terrible on the defensive end. Pretty self explanatory.

 

Maybe this would've gone over better if I said he's a surefire lockdown defender in the making lol

 

You weren't quoting anyone and the thread title is about his overall potential so I didn't know exactly what you were referring besides assuming you were referring to the general thread premise.

Quote the comment you are replying to so we know the context.

 

People might shet on me for this take but individual defensive abilities are not nearly important these days for high usage guards/shot creators.

Most of the time, the main ball handlers gets hidden on defense and guards the 3 and D guy in the corner unless the other team hunts for switches. Even players like Kawhi and LeBron are left to rest on defense on most possessions. And then you have players like Curry or Dame who have always been horrid on defense.

If KPJ aspires to be the main playmaker, he needs to worry about his offensive tools like improving shooting and offense IQ more than defense. On defense he just needs to understand the system and where to go and give effort. I think half of defense if defensive IQ rather than raw abilities.

If KPJ does somehow become an all star on offense, he will be surrounded by players like Beverley, Ariza or Tucker like Harden was.

Edit*

I will add that this theory is not true for centers. So Wood better shape up his defense before anything else. Centers anchor the defense at the rim, you cannot be an all star center and have horrid defense.

 

My bad. Assumed people were actually reading the comments.

 

I'm not sure where these points are going or coming from.

I think Baller was saying just because someone has physical tools and athleticism doesn't mean they are likely or capable of becoming good defenders. Some guys defensive IQ just isn't there. I was just clarifying that he was talking about defense, and never made an argument here about anything else.



I did have a post in this thread, in which I said Jamal Crawford, I think that is a good ceiling comp for KPJ.

Big-time shooting inconsistency (goes both ways), poor defensive IQ, too skinny, good handles, good slashing ability, good athleticism, can hit shots at tough angles, can hit off the dribble, is a creator offensively for himself and teammates.

That's what I'm seeing from KPJ. He's young, he could develop into much more, or he could never grow and just never have a good career, who knows.

 

KPJ's frame at 20 has more muscle mass than any point in Crawford's career and he is a more explosive player and he seeks his teammates more.

 

He's not a carbon copy but that's my ceiling comp for him at this point.

 

Jamal Crawford at age 20(same as kpj now) averaged 4 points a game and shot 35% from the field, 8.5 PER. Next!

 

I would be quite happy if KPJ can become Crawford level player. I think it's definitely an attainable goal

 

You're a terrible judge of talent lol.