Craig Porter Jr.: His outside shot holds him back

Porter had a promising rookie season but more work needs to be done.

For an undrafted rookie, last season couldn’t have gone much better for Craig Porter Jr. He not only earned a standard NBA contract but also primed himself to win the backup point guard position long-term for the Cleveland Cavaliers. That is — if he can improve in a few key areas.

Last year, Porter flew under the radar as an older collegiate prospect who did a little bit of everything at Wichita State. He led his team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks but his limited scoring was a key reason Porter went un-selected in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Fast forward to the upcoming season and Porter still has many of the same concerns. Though, he has quelled some of the biggest ones. Porter has proven he has the athleticism to keep up with NBA defenders and his feel for the game allowed him to impact winning throughout the first half of his rookie year. However, Porter’s inconsistent scoring has kept him just below where he needs to be.

Porter wasn’t a complete no-show on offense. He was able to take opponents by surprise early in his rookie season — dropping 21 points on the Denver Nuggets and then following it up with three more double-digit scoring games against the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.

The difference-maker for Porter has been his ability to read and react to the defense. He’s a surgical player and took full advantage of the fact that his opponents were unfamiliar with his game. Porter could attack closeouts and burst into his comfort zone at the rim. But as the season went on, defenders realized that closing out to the three-point line wasn’t necessary when containing Porter.

Take this play from November: His defender is chasing him hard over the screen and it allows Porter to collapse the defense and create an open three-pointer. This cross-court dime is Porter at his best — bending a defense and making quick reads.

Now look at an example from later in the season, where Brooklyn’s defense simply sits under the screen and leaves Porter with no options but to fire a futile jumper. The Nets finished with the 10th worst defense in the NBA yet even they understood how to neutralize Porter as a threat. That’s the problem.

I hate to oversimplify things but there is one magical fix for Porter — he has to improve as a shooter. If he could warrant a closeout, then his athleticism and processing speed would be properly utilized again. But until then, teams will continue to take him off the board by daring him to shoot.

The 2024 Las Vegas Summer League should have been Porter’s time to showcase his improvements. Instead, he shot just 21% and turned in some of his worst games as a professional. Summer League shouldn’t inform your opinion of a player but at the least, it could have given us a reason for encouragement.

Porter has the disadvantage of being an undersized guard on a team full of undersized guards. An elite jump shot would be his saving grace but for now, he’s still searching for a way to truly differentiate himself from the rest of Cleveland’s reserves.