Craig Porter Jr. is on notice.
"Actions over words" is a phrase that ESPN Senior NBA Reporter Brian Windhorst likes to say when analyzing the league. It's a helpful reminder that NBA teams will say just about anything to the media, but that it's their actions that actually indicate what they believe.
From their actions, it's clear that the Cleveland Cavaliers don't believe in Craig Porter Jr.
Craig Porter Jr. is being pushed aside
If the Cavaliers did truly think that Craig Porter Jr. was the no-doubt backup point guard for this team, they wouldn't keep trying to replace him. In each of the last two NBA Drafts, Cleveland has drafted a guard -- trying to address a position of need where they have two All-Star guards in the starting lineup and who was thought to be a capable backup behind them.
That is in addition to multiple trades last season to address the position. Lonzo Ball was traded for to fill that role, but his game fell off a cliff. At the Trade Deadline, the Cavaliers brought in journeyman point guard Dennis Schroder to man the position, which he did during the playoffs.
Porter Jr. had repeatedly been ignored as the team has made these plans. In the playoffs, he was outside of the rotation entirely, playing only mop-up minutes; he totaled 21 minutes despite the team playing 18 games.
Coming into this season, it seemed that Porter might finally be the guy at backup point guard. Koby Altman traded Schroder away to free up space for a forward in Peyton Watson. No veteran point guard was brought in. The fourth-year Porter, a steady hand on the ball and a perfectly decent shooter, seemed on track to finally earn that rotation role.
Not so fast. Porter only lasted two games as the pseudo-backup point guard, averaging just over six minutes per contest, and then was excised from the rotation entirely. Rookie second-round guard Meleek Thomas is averaging 20 minutes per game. Tyrese Proctor is now in the rotation. Donovan Mitchell is playing more minutes on the ball.
Porter's future is trending downwards
It all means that Porter Jr. is not even seeing the court. In the final year of his bargain deal that he signed as an undrafted free agent, Porter may very well be in his final year in a Cleveland uniform.
He was eligible to sign an extension this offseason, but no such deal materialized. There wasn't even chatter about it. If the Cavaliers saw Porter as part of their future, they held plenty of leverage to work out a deal. No such deal came together.
Now Porter is outside of the rotation at the start of the season; the job, if he ever held it, has already been lost. Injuries will strike and he will find playing time along the way, but it is clear to him and to the outside that the team doesn't trust him with the job. And if they don't trust him now, they will look to replace him next summer.
The message to Porter may not be explicit with words, but the actions are telling. The Cavaliers don't trust Porter Jr. as their backup point guard -- and they likely never will.
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