NBA Draft: Who is Kristaps Porzingis

The Bad

The ghosts of European big men of the past haunt Porzingis.

He does a great job trying to recognize it and say he will break the mold. He knows what the story is against him and the perception and stereotype he has to fight and disprove. He will be spending much of his first years in the league doing that.

Yet, all of those concerns seem perfectly valid.

For all the physical tools Porzingis has and all the skill, he lacks strength and he still looks like a teenager. Well, he is, but that is beside the point.

You are never quite sure how a guy will take to NBA weight training programs and how they will grow up and how they will handle the rigors of 82 games. Porzingis seems to raise even more questions with how he looks at the moment.

The plain and short of it is all the talk of going into the post and going against that perception is not going to happen until he puts on some weight. It could be a rough rookie year for that reason. His resolve will certainly be tested. And, if the Magic draft him and stick to their focus on winning, it could mean he stays on the perimeter a lot.

Porzingis’ growth and development will come mainly in his second year as he continues to build strength and have a better idea about his fit in the league.

At worst, he is a stretch-4 with a good shot and decent enough athleticism to cover other stretch-4s who gets bullied in the post. That happens if he never puts on the muscle. Still, that seems like a pretty good player. Maybe not the one you can pair perfectly with Nikola Vucevic defensively, but one you can still work with.

Or maybe even worse, his shooting game does not extend out to the NBA 3-point line and his shooting does not properly spread the floor, forcing him into the post where his lack of strength becomes a bigger weakness.

The truth is though, no one ever really knows whether their 3-point shooting extends that far until they get into a game.

Next: Brett's Take