Cavaliers: Analyzing the defensive potential of Kevin Porter Jr.
The Cleveland Cavaliers came away with a steal with the final pick of the first round in the 2019 NBA Draft when they grabbed USC guard Kevin Porter Jr., and his defensive potential shouldn’t go unnoticed.
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected University of Southern California guard Kevin Porter Jr. in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, who came to USC as a highly touted recruit (as 247 Sports demonstrated) going into the 2018-19 collegiate season.
Needless to say, his lone season in L.A. was a bit of a bumpy one. He showed gobs of potential but also showed some maturity issues which reportedly led to a suspension, and he battled some nagging injuries, as KJG’s Robbie DiPaola noted.
Despite his high level of talent, Porter only played in 21 games and only started four of those contests (per Sports Reference).
In his 21 games, Porter averaged just 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, though he sported a more than respectable effective field goal percentage of 56.1% (again, per Sports Reference).
In his limited action, Porter showed he can be a highly efficient and highly effective scorer at the collegiate level when dialed in. That is what experts seemed to focus on when evaluating him, however, he has the potential to be a defensive star for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Porter has many traits of that of a high-level NBA defender, it’s just a matter of him putting those traits to use with effort and showing the maturity to be a consistent competitor in the NBA.
The first way he can unlock his defensive capability is by having the right mindset every night, no matter if his shot is going down/he’s making plays on the offensive end.
Having the right mindset
Porter has the athleticism and length to be a fantastic defender against NBA guards and against many small forwards. He needs to show the desire to want to be a consistent defender, night-in and night-out, though.
Porter was widely considered by many draft experts as a top 10 natural talent in the 2019 NBA Draft, but, he slid to a near second-round pick due to all of the maturity questions.
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The maturity questions cannot linger over to on-court performance and effort.
Porter can be an elite-level on-ball defender if he simply puts the effort in on that end of the floor, and to be quite frank, based on last season’s defensive performance (of which KJG contributors have often mentioned was historically awful by Basketball Reference’s defensive rating metrics), the Cavs need Porter to grow into being elite on the defensive end in his career.
When Porter was locked in on the defensive end of the floor for the Trojans, he was outstanding.
He showed above-average ability in defending primary and secondary ball-handlers, and he had solid per 40 minute averages of 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals (per Sports Reference).
He also only allowed an impressive .409 points per possession in isolation situations which ranked in the 93rd percentile in the country (per NBA.com).
For Porter to unlock his defensive capability, though, he’ll need to be a willing defender every night, which is anything but easy for a 19-year-old, and one a rebuilding team, in particular.