The Cleveland Cavaliers had their first preseason game on Monday, and though it was only preseason, and it was only against Argentinean club San Lorenzo de Almagro, Cleveland rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. showed a ton of promise as a multifaceted scorer.
At this point, the Cleveland Cavaliers still do not begin playing games that actually count until Oct. 23, when they start the 2019-20 regular season on the road at the Orlando Magic.
On Monday, they began their slate of four preseason games, though, as they welcomed Argentinean club San Lorenzo de Almagro to the newly-renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
While a win over a non-NBA foe is not one to exactly right home about, even with San Lorenzo being the latest “Argentinean championship team,” as was noted by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, it was encouraging from the way the Cavs’ ball and man movement seemed to pick up as the game progressed.
The Cavs started sluggish in the contest, and even trailed by three points after the first quarter, but from there, the offense had better flow, and one could tell that the off-ball/cutting emphasis of new head coach John Beilein paid off, as Cleveland ended up with 27 assists, and the likes of wing Cedi Osman (12), bigs Tristan Thompson (14) and Larry Nance Jr. (15), who had a bunch of rolling dunks, and guard/wing Jordan Clarkson (17 points) had their fill as far as scoring in double-figures (per ESPN).
Rookie point guard Darius Garland, who had nine points on four-of-four shooting, to go with two assists in 14 minutes (and could have had more,) also looked really sharp and clearly gave the team a spark when he came in off the bench.
What he really stuck out to me, though, was the play of rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr., who had 16 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field (again, per ESPN).
Porter, who I would imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers will play a good chunk of minutes at the 3 position this year, including in the rest of the preseason and into the start of the regular season, with fellow rookie wing Dylan Windler out for seemingly into the outset of the 2019-20 year with reported lower leg discomfort, is a player that Cavs fans and the organization have high hopes for, and rightfully so.
The 6-foot-6, 218-pound Porter will likely have his growing pains this season, considering he’s just 19, and has KJG contributors have often emphasized, Porter underwhelmed in his one collegiate season at USC and just didn’t seem to find a consistent rhythm.
He averaged far below his standards with just 9.5 points and only played in 22.9 minutes per game (per Sports Reference), and missed all of Summer League due to a reported minor hip flexor injury he suffered in a pre-draft workout with the Atlanta Hawks (also per Fedor).
In his first real action with the Cavaliers, though, even if it was just preseason and against an Argentinean club, Porter showed why he has a ton of promise.
The 16 points came in a variety of ways (and highlights per Free Dawkins).
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As one could see, some of it came really via off-ball from cutting and having proper floor spacing/timing to get the right angle to finish on the interior, which is really encouraging with the way the Cleveland Cavaliers under Beilein and the team’s mostly-new coaching staff wants to have productive movement be the engine to Cleveland’s offense, and it was good to see Porter knock in a catch-and-shoot triple, too, which I’d think he’ll get comfortable in doing as he gets more experience.
Additionally, though again the competition was far from the best, Porter also showcased his on-ball scoring ability, and as Fear The Sword’s Chris Manning highlighted, Porter had two quality buckets “where he used his frame and his natural knack for scoring.”
Porter’s ability to change speeds should enable him to get plenty of buckets, both from the perimeter/with quick two or so dribble pull-ups and then with his NBA-ready size, if he’s willing to do it, his explosiveness and strength could really unlock him as a scorer at the rim to counter his pull-up/spot-up game.
You could see why fans and the Cleveland Cavaliers organization/coaching staff/his teammates are seemingly so high on what Porter could bring to this team from a scoring and really energy/mindset standpoint from his production Monday, and perhaps as Porter gets more comfortable with his teammates, he could have more of a secondary playmaking role, too, as a drive-and-kick player.
It was tough to see Porter have four fouls in his 14 minutes, but again, he’s a young player, and as he gets more experience (this was technically his first live action for the Cavs), he’ll be more disciplined and have better position on that end I believe and with his athleticism and strength, he should be more than capable of walling off opposing drivers and I’d think should get more polished in terms of getting through screens off the ball to close baseline interior looks and contest on the perimeter in an under control manner.
Again, however, this preseason debut for Porter was one that demonstrated why he appears to be one of the more exciting young pieces for the Cavaliers in the near future, and I’d think could develop into of Cleveland’s most dangerous scorers and with more coaching influence, he could definitely become one of their best wing defenders in coming years, too.
So go and get that KPJ jersey, Cavs fans. He’s coming.