Cavs: 3 potential career outcomes for Kevin Porter Jr.
By Mason Cole
Porter Jr. potential career outcome #3 for the Cleveland Cavaliers: Elite sixth man
If KPJ never becomes a starter for the Cavaliers, I think he would thrive in a bench role. With his combination of ball-handling ability and isolation scoring, I could see Porter Jr. as the type of player who could lead a second unit.
One of the ways to be a great 6th man is to be a hot handed scorer. When you think of the best sixth men in recent NBA history, names like Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford and James Harden come to mind. What all of those great bench players have in common is their ability to score lots of points.
I mean, Lou Williams even averaged 22.6 points per game for the LA Clippers during the 2017-18 NBA season. Those are massive scoring numbers for guy who came off of the bench for the majority of the season. In order to be a great 6th man, a player has to be able to heap on scoring, and we saw flashes of that from Porter Jr. throughout the season.
The game that comes to my mind instantly was the Cavs matchup with the Rockets on December 11, 2019. The Cavaliers ultimately lost the game, but it was one of the most promising outings we saw from Kevin Porter Jr.
Playing 28 minutes off the bench, Porter Jr. had 24 points and was six-of-nine from behind the three-point line. But he didn’t only lead the Cavs in scoring, he seemed to be hitting shots when the team needed it the most. His performance that night truly energized the crowd at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and lead to a near-victory over the far superior Rockets.
KPJ was a spark off the bench that night, and if he could provide performances like that throughout an entire season, he could be an incredibly valuable asset to the Cavaliers.
Next. Recent Cavs tweet says it all about Kevin Porter Jr.'s upside. dark
But Porter Jr. is still so young and so early on in his career that it’s impossible to tell what his career outcome will be. But I think it is safe to say that his ceiling is as high as anyone on his team, and no matter what role he fills, he’ll be bringing excitement to the Cleveland Cavaliers for years to come.