2018 NBA Draft Prospect Report Part 3: Michael Porter Jr.

Halfcourt Scoring

Michael Porter Jr.’s one-on-one scoring is arguably the most valuable, most impressive part of his game. His versatile jumper, high release point and ability to create off the bounce and score inside the arc on face-ups and out of triple-threat invoke comparisons to Carmelo Anthony and Tracy McGrady – the latter of whom Porter cites as a key source of inspiration.

There is only so much you can learn about a player from one-on-one drills, but his ability to pivot, rise up over smaller defenders and hit turnaround jumpers is unique in this draft class.

His approach to exploiting mismatches leaves a little bit of physicality to be desired. But his high release point combined with his body control fading away in the post makes him an impressive scoring weapon. His defender does not stand a chance on the possession above.

At Stephen Curry’s basketball camp, Porter went one-on-one with Dennis Smith Jr., a significantly smaller player not exactly known for his defensive prowess. Smith repeatedly forced him to his weak hand and Porter settled for jump shots despite having a lane to the basket.

Ideally, you would like to see him work harder for a better shot and try to turn the corner. But his turnaround jumper and skill pulling up from midrange allowed him to score anyways.

In Porter’s defense, this footage is from several years ago. He has had plenty of time to work on his game since. But there has not been enough film of him at high levels of competition up to this point to quell concerns about his physicality.

These concerns have also showed up more recently at Missouri.

In this clip, Porter attempts to get a low-post seal against a smaller player. While he does gain position, he could stand to lower his center of gravity. After all, this is a 6-foot-5 guard he is battling against.

Porter projects as a NBA power forward. Getting position on the low block in this scenario should be a little easier than this.

Later in the same game against the Kansas Jayhawks, we see him struggle to use his body to create space to score while defended by another guard, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.

Porter is light in his lower body but still should have the strength to dominate this matchup. In addition to improving his strength, learning how to better leverage his lower body could really improve his ability to attack these kinds of advantages.

Most of his film up to this point indicates a contact-averse style of play. But when he is motivated, he is willing to mix it up on the offensive glass for putbacks and tip-ins.

He has plenty of room to improve his physical strength. And he is well-established as a versatile shooter and isolation threat. But if he begins his NBA career playing the 4, his inability to consistently seal, post up mismatches and crash the glass will be an issue as his opponents get bigger and stronger.

Off the ball, Porter has displayed solid instincts as a cutter. His lack of first-step burst (also an issue wrought partially by his problematic lower body strength) might make it hard for him to be that effective as a cutter at the next level, at least early in his career.

But it is a positive indicator of his offensive IQ to see him have the presence of mind to take advantage of a ball-watching defender.

Although he is no Deandre Ayton, he has repeatedly shown standstill two-foot leaping ability that belies his overall athletic makeup. That bodes well for his upside as a pick-and-roll finisher, which will be a useful skill at power forward. Plus, any time you have a player who can both finish and initiate, that will allow you to do creative things with your offense.

In addition to his potential as an off-ball cutting, finishing and spot-up threat, he has shown flashes of primary ball handling capabilities.

In this clip, Porter uses a flat ball screen to get going downhill. For a player without much first-step burst, this type of screen is particularly useful. He uses a slight stutter-step to get his defender going over the screen before driving right and finishing through current Texas Longhorns center Mohamed Bamba – no easy task.

He understands how to manipulate ball screens to gain advantages. And he scores here, but ideally, you would like to see him use his impressive length to extend out and finish around Bamba after he goes vertical.

For a young player, Porter already has advanced body control, so with the right coaching, this kind of thing is easily fixable and not a huge red flag.

His lack of explosiveness is a common thread here, but he has very impressive top-end speed. That leads to our next slide.