Cavs: Revisiting stats predictions for Kevin Porter Jr., Larry Nance Jr. and Matthew Dellavedova

Revisiting my 2019-20 stats predictions for Porter

My predictions: 7.4 PPG on 53.1 percent true shooting, 3.3. RPG, 17.4 MPG and 65 games active

Porter’s 2019-20 stats thus far: 10.0 PPG on 53.5 percent true shooting, 3.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 23.2 MPG and 50 games active

Taking a gander at my stats predictions for Porter leading into the season, I wouldn’t have expected KPJ to be so involved already this season, honestly, but it’s clear that the dude can ball.

Where I’ve been off the mark: Scoring production/minutes workload

Before the season, I thought KPJ would take a while to be a fixture in the rotation, then for prior head coach John Beilein, who proved to be a horrible fit and has since been re-assigned to an unspecified role within the organization.

Porter clearly has gotten a much larger minutes/on-ball workload than I would’ve expected thus far leading into the season’s suspension, though, and he probably has the highest two-way potential of any of the Cavs’ young pieces. 10.0 points per game for Porter at this point is more than I would’ve expected before the season, along with him playing nearly half of games on average.

The key reason for that, with Jordan Clarkson still on the roster until late December, when he was traded to the Utah Jazz for Dante Exum and then-two future second-round picks, was Clarkson being Cleveland’s bench scoring dynamo leading into the season.

Perhaps even more so, too, has been Dylan Windler, who seemed to be Cedi Osman’s natural backup at the 3, not playing at all in his rookie season and likely not at all due to a stress reaction in his left leg.

While that’s been unfortunate, and I hope Windler gets healthy going forward, it’s allowed Porter to be Osman’s primary backup, and he’s shown he has tremendous potential as a perimeter player for Cleveland as a pick-and-roll creator, shot-maker, perimeter defensive ace and as a secondary playmaker.

So where have I hit thus far in relation to Porter?

Where I’ve hit: Rebounding and true shooting clip

Porter’s true shooting clip has been slightly higher than I projected, which, even with him having a 34.0 percent effective field goal shooting clip on pull-ups, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, has been pretty encouraging to me. If KPJ can improve on his pull-up efficiency going forward, watch out.

Porter’s finishing ability, combining his touch and power in that realm in both settled offense and transition, is what has been the calling card for him thus far.

From 0-3 feet out, he’s hit 71.8 percent of those attempts, per Basketball Reference, and with his finishing prowess with both hands, that played into my projection leading into the year, regardless of if he was hitting on jumpers or not. Meanwhile, his three-point shooting clip has been alright, all things considered, at 33.5 percent, with more of those connections on catch-and-shoots.

Also, while 3.2 rebounds per game for KPJ thus far this season isn’t an eye-popping amount, he rebounds pretty well for a perimeter player, and a 13.5 percent defensive rebounding rate is one I’ll absolutely take going forward.

Porter’s helped out there in his time on the floor, and we’ve occasionally seen some putbacks from him, too, and his athleticism in that regard makes him even more dangerous as an explosive athlete.

Hopefully Porter, who unfortunately missed a 10-game stretch earlier this season due to a left knee sprain and had since missed Cleveland’s last three games leading up to the league’s suspension due to a concussion, can be healthier in coming years.

So next up in terms of revisiting my stats predictions, we’ll look at where I’ve hit and missed in regards to Nance.