Cavs: We should see more of Kevin Porter Jr. as cutter next season

There were not a boatload of instances, but Kevin Porter Jr. was a productive cutting finisher as a rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Next season, we should see the Cleveland Cavaliers playing Kevin Porter Jr. more than 23.2 minutes per outing. Last season, the USC product flashed plenty of potential as on-ball creator, and had a solid 10.0 points per game.

KPJ displayed plenty of ability to create off-the-bounce by changing speeds, finished through contact and from great body control, and in year 2 for him, hopefully, he can be more efficient on his jumpers to pair with his driving/finishing prowess.

I’d imagine that with how he showed more and more promise as his rookie season progressed, though, his jump shot, particularly off-the-bounce, will be more reliable next season.

On pull-ups, for example, Porter only had an effective field goal shooting percentage of 34.0, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data. But there were times throughout 2019-20 when he really had it going in that sense.

Plus, it was a key positive for Porter to have hit 40.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts. Porter’s passing feel was a bright spot, too, given what he showed in regards to that in year 1, which was very encouraging to me for coming years and pieces such as Larry Nance Jr. and Collin Sexton.

Albeit when looking at next season, considering how he was a productive cutter in 2019-20, even while the volume wasn’t a ton of instances in totality, Porter should be used more as a cutter in year 2.

Look for that cutting more from KPJ in year 2 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Porter’s cutting feel impressed me throughout last season, quite frankly, and next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, with him feasibly appearing in 27.5ish minutes per game, I’d imagine we should see more growth for him off-ball in the cutting sense.

Of course, KPJ should realistically have more on-ball work with what he showcased last season, but don’t discount how he improved his timing last season as a cutter going toward the basket after dump-offs from Darius Garland and/or dishes from Nance/Kevin Love.

We should see more cutting opportunities for Porter next season, which was something he was highly productive in in year 1.

Although the volume again was not way up there, Porter placed in the 93rd percentile as a cutting finisher as a rookie, per Synergy Sports.

In 29 such instances, Porter hit 23 of those attempts, having a field goal clip of 79.3 percent, and such instances led to a shooting foul frequency of 18.8 percent.

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With that finishing touch, and him improving his timing of making cuts to the basket along the baseline and at times via diagonal cuts, with more minutes alongside a good passing big in Love, to go with Nance still, Porter should be a prominent cutting target to him from here onward.

I’d venture to think that Kevin Porter Jr. should benefit obviously on-ball from spacing provided with a knockdown shooter in Dylan Windler plenty on the floor with him hopefully if can be mostly healthy next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, too.

But in terms of off-ball, with Windler being a willing and able passer in his own right paired with that, KPJ should have some baseline cutting chances, and also some lobs from Windler, who is capable of hitting those.

Moreover, we should see more of Porter as a cutter next season, with more minutes-share game-to-game, and in work with willing passers in feasibly Garland, Windler, Nance/Love.

To circle back, it’s clear that KPJ will be one of Cleveland’s key on-ball scoring threats, but with him in year 2, his cutting feel/growth should continue to develop further, and with the great finishing package he has, look for him to be a prime cutting target from here onward.

I’ll be looking forward to lobs to KPJ a fair amount next season/in coming years.