Cade was born September 25 2001. KPjr was born May 4 2000. You've seen enough to know he will never be the best player on an elite team? While playing the point for the first time, he showed the ability to take over games...and a feel for the game that can't be taught. 50 & 11 against JH and the Bucks. Give him the backcourt without Wall (and Oladipo)..... Yeah, he has issues, but his talent is undeniably that of a franchise player.
If it was based on his ability to become a great NBA PG then he would go top 5. If it was based on the notion he can be an off ball scorer to a better PG then he would slide probably to middle 1st even into the 20s.
There are a few folks on the board who are excited for KPJ, that's certainly cool. After last season having something hopeful is good to get through the season. There are others like me who are more of a wait and see. I'll be frank, I didn't watch his g league games, so only judging by his games in a Rockets uniform. He's promising, but not as attached to him because he's only been here half a season. Maybe as time goes on, more fan base will come around. That comes with solid on court play and less off court distractions. For those excited for him, that's certainly cool, I just wouldn't be too aggressive on other Rocket fans who don't see him as the next franchise guy. How can anyone be that sure. Think majority people see him as promising, which is not a bad start.
Clutchfans are too fixated on age when it comes to rookies. Porter turned 21 in May and dominated the G-league. Same league that Green and Kuminga were in. D.O.B. (month) Kuminga (October) 18 years of age Jalen Green (Feb) 19 years of age Porter Jr (May) 21 years of age Jalen Green and Kuminga are boys and Porter is still a boy-very young man. Teams will be looking in terms of what to expect for the next 4 to 5 years with their team if they select one of them. Cade/Jalen are different type players. Cade is more of a pass first player that can score. Would have had 8 or 9 assists per game if his teammates could get the ball in the hole. Will be a much better Jason Kidd because of his size. Jalen Green is more of a scorer. I expect him to be a lesser MJ/Kobe due to lack of mega-intensity that MJ-Kobe had. Green is more laid back. I prefer Cade, getting everyone involved and can score as a mismatch much like Magic Johnson did in his career, by just a smidgit over Jalen Green. Not sure how good MJ and Kobe fair in today's basketball. It's more zone than MJ's time where defenders had to stay closer to their man. I'm sure MJ would put more emphasis on 3's than he did back then.....Jalen is already there. Porter Jr is an excellent offensive player that can get in the lane whenever he wants and can use the backboard well. Feel he is actually 6'6" like MJ. Obviously a great talent.....defense is very suspect. Off court issues in the past might drop him in some (most) GM minds. Needs to be the #1 option on a bad team with a high USG% near 28% or better to tap into his full potential. Cade/Jalen slightly above Porter Jr because of defensive capabilities; But in that 1-3 range. Before Mobley/Suggs/Kuminga range. A good team moving up in the draft should not take him. Like Harden when he came to Houston, Porter Jr needs free rein.
Might? It already did once. He fell all the way to 30 due to his issues at USC. Now on top of that you add on weapons, controlled substance, mental health questions, violence against a woman, anger issues and general bad judgement? No way he would go anywhere near the lottery. There's also a huge difference between a 21 year old who's already played a season against NBA competition vs an 18/19 year old who's playing at a level above high school for the first time.
Perhaps a better question is where would Porter go in this draft after his season in G League as a first time PG.
Porter has a chance to be special. No idea what the odds are that he reaches that potential or flames out. I like a bigger, less defensive Donovan Mitchell as a comp. Mitchell went 13th in a weaker draft so I would say KPJ would go late lottery/top 20 if he were in the 2021 draft.
maybe 10-14 range…his off the court issues didn’t magically disappear people bringing up how he played in the G-League when that means absolutely nothing What do y’all think Cade, Mobley, Green, Suggs, etc would be averaging in the G-League if they were placed there during their 2nd season in the NBA? They would dominate that competition I saw somebody say he’d go #1? Lol, please stop I guarantee if Cade was averaging 16, 4, and 6 on 43/31/73 shooting splits and 53% TS like KPJr did in his 2nd year, everyone on here would be calling him a bust. We already got a lot of people acting like Tyler Herro is a scrub for averaging 15, 5, and 3 on 44/36/80 shooting splits and 54% TS in his 2nd year, and he was the 13th pick in his draft.
Yes, about a year and a half difference. That is a big difference. Yeah, I am pretty confident that he will not be a top 5-10 player in the NBA, although I would love to be wrong. He has had his moments but he also has been mediocre for a lot of minutes. He has some talent, but he is highly inefficient and his off the courts issues do not help.
All those teams look dumb passing on him.....and now would take him in a heartbeat. Teams are salivating as to what Cade and Green will look like at 21.... not currently at 19 years of age. If age was so important why did we let Christian Wood go in year on, only to pick him up years later. In your logic, we only accumulate 19 year olds. You leave no room for maturation.
If Kevin Porter Jr starts knocking down threes at 35-40%, he will be a star in this league. If he doesn't, he will be what he is now, which is a huge Brandon Jennings. I hope he continues to latch onto KJ Martin and Jae'Sean Tate, because those guys have their **** together.
No they wouldn't. They knew he was talented when he was drafted. His off court issues are the reason he slid. Those issues haven't gone away. In fact, they've gotten worse. Teams aren't going to risk a high pick on a player with those kind of issues. Too big of a risk. I said that already having a season playing against NBA players is a big advantage. That doesn't have anything to do with age. If you've already had a year playing against NBA players, of course you'd have a big advantage over players who'd never played above the HS level. Do you disagree? You can't compare a HS kid playing in the G-League to a player with NBA experience playing in the G-League. One is stepping up in competion level and the other is stepping down. Wood got cut because he wasn't an NBA level player at the time. Not sure what point you're trying to make. Porters numbers in his rookie year were the same or better in most every category other than assists. He just shot the ball a lot more this year. So if his numbers were the same or better after his rookie year, then why did Cleveland have to give him away? The answer is that nobody else wanted to give up anything for him because of his off court issues. As I said, everyone knew he was skilled coming out of USC. The questions about him that were there then are still there now. Inconsistent, Inefficient, poor defense and major off-court issues.
Not top 5. The top five in this draft are exceptional, and without literally checking ages, I have to think they're all younger. Also, while Porter definitely showed more stability with Houston, the off-the-court stuff that made him a late first rounder are still there two years later after he made himself a liability in Cleveland. I think he's shown enough potential in two seasons that a team would take a chance on him regardless of the off-the-court stuff, and I think his stock would definitely be higher than it was when he was drafted. But this is a super talented draft at the top, so I'm not seeing him as a top 2-3 guy like some posters are projecting. I'm thinking a borderline top 10 guy who goes somewhere in the lottery, but could slip due to character concerns. His poor defense and the lack of a reliable 3-point shot are still huge problems. The guy is a dynamic scorer and playmaker, but if he can't get better in those two areas, he's never going to be an All-Star.
Brandon Jennings is a great comparison. Go take a look at his rookie numbers. They were better than either of Porter's seasons ( including a 55 pt game).
that may be the key here in Houston vs other situations - he is surrounded by quality guys who will help keep him grounded and focused.
Like going to strip club till 6 in the morning? KPJ is not good enough to get away with stuff like that. If he was harden he could, but he isn't.
