NBA Draft: Who is Kristaps Porzingis

The Orlando Magic reportedly have taken a very close look at Kristaps Porzingis. What do we think of this 7-foot Latvian stretch-4.

As we have wound closer to the Draft, Kristaps Porzingis has emerged as a player many teams are focusing on.

The 7-foot Latvian center came into the Draft with a reputation for having athleticism and having the ability to spread the floor with his jumper. He has a rare combination of offensive talents for a 7-footer. Few players like him seem capable of stepping out to the perimeter like Porzingis prepared to do.

The inclination is to compare Porzingis to a guy like Dirk Nowitzki. It seems every foreign player of Porzingis’ type has faced that impossible comparison. At one point Danilo Gallinari, Andrea Bargnani, NIkoloz Tskitishvili and a whole bunch of disappointing or no-name prospects were supposed to be “the next Dirk Nowitzki.”

For whatever reason, these types of players have worked inconsistently. They never lived up to the expectation.

But every time, the draft prospects suck everyone back in. And after that workout last week in Las Vegas, it seems everyone — scouts, teams, general managers, executives, fans — are ready to jump on board.

The question of whether this guy will be the one that breaks that mold is still up in the air. No one is quite sure who he is or what he will become. All they can do now is begin to put the pieces together and figure out where he fits in this league.

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