Cavs: Kevin Porter Jr. should not shy away from drives in preseason

With his outstanding physical profile, Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kevin Porter Jr. should not shy away from driving all the way to the rim in 2019-20, and that should be a point of emphasis for him in the preseason.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to be very excited about the potential of 2019 NBA Draft pick Kevin Porter Jr., as they should be.

Though the baseline numbers didn’t necessarily show it in Porter’s one collegiate season at USC, he’s a player that appears to have a very high ceiling for the Cavaliers, but plenty of that ceiling will depend on Porter’s willingness to take the ball all the way to the rim.

Last year, Porter did not fit in too well at USC, as KJG contributors have often noted, and a mid-season suspension (as was initially reported by the Los Angeles Times‘ Brady McCollough) and a quad injury also caused him to miss nine games (h/t Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez and Leonard Kreicas).

So Porter only was active in 21 games for the Trojans out of a possible 33, and he played just 22.1 minutes per game and started just four of those games (per Sports Reference).

As a result, Porter, a big-time talent out of Seattle, had an underwhelming season by his standards with 9.5 points per game, though he was pretty efficient, with an effective field goal shooting clip of 56.1%.

Porter’s ability to shoot off-the-bounce and get separation often effortlessly is something that makes him possibly a huge addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers in coming years.

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Though Porter is prone to over-dribbling some, that’s understandable for a young wing, and it was encouraging that Porter shot 41.2% from three-point land at USC, per Sports Reference.

Plus, with players on the floor such as uber-talented shooters Darius Garland, Kevin Love, and at times feasibly fellow Cleveland 2019 draft selection Dylan Windler, Porter should have plenty of room to operate in a good amount of his minutes as the year progresses in 2019-20.

I’d also think that Porter should be a viable catch-and-shoot threat, but at a listed 6-foot-5.5 and a solid 213 pounds for a rookie wing, I’d especially like for Porter to take advantage of his incredible athleticism and explosiveness by driving to the rim a good amount, and that needs to be a key focus area for him in the preseason.

As draft pundits touched on, Porter had too many instances in 2018-19 when he didn’t take full advantage of his ability to get to the rim, and as a result, bailed out defenders too much by shooting ill-advised long two’s when he had defenders either parallel, or even beat.

Though the injury bug could have very well played into that, it’s still a criticism that seemed to plague Porter even when he was seemingly fully healthy last year.

Additionally, Porter, who did not play in Summer League at all due to a reported minor hip flexor injury suffered at a pre-draft workout, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, could be a bit gunshy to take it to the rack in the preseason. That being said, I would think he should be full-go in preseason at this point, as he’s played in a variety of pickup games/pro ams this offseason and is seemingly ready to roll now.

I understand that even in the preseason, competition is better and defense is more stout than in pickup games/pro ams, but the point is Porter’s combination of handle, functional strength and ability to change speeds and beat primary defenders should lead him to be a very willing driver in preseason. I don’t want him to be completely driving with reckless abandon, but controlled aggression should lead him to have plenty of chances in his minutes in the preseason, and if he’s willing to drive in the regular season as well.

The talent around Porter might not be nearly the same as will likely be the case in the regular season in preseason action, with feasibly some training camp invitees on the floor with Porter getting bench minutes, but Porter should still have good opportunities to get to the rim and/or free throw chances.

Also, given his impressive shooting off-the-bounce and off-the-catch in settled situations and in transition, I wouldn’t read much into Porter’s only 52.2% free throw shooting clip at USC (per Sports Reference), and him at the free throw I don’t believe will be a big issue going forward.

So again, Porter shouldn’t be gunshy as a driver, particularly after hard closeouts from opponents in 2019-20, and he needs to be ready and willing to attack the basket starting in preseason, so that can set the tone for him going into the regular season and he can gain some confidence in doing that.

Porter had a fair amount of statement in-game dunks at USC, and he is highly capable of finishing at the rim with either hand as a dunker and/or on finesse finishes/up-and-unders, and hopefully, he can have a few rim-wreckers in preseason action and get himself going some heading into when the games actually count.