gtn130 wrote:Opportunity is definitely a big part of it, but don't most players eventually get a shot? Do you think a player not getting minutes early on can damage his career? I think it would be hard to prove either way.
Really good point, I can't think of a quantitative way of evaluating early opportunity.
gtn130 wrote:Porter seems like a very rare circumstance where our beloved GM used the 3rd overall pick to be our 3rd small forward off the bench. Most 1st round draft picks get their opportunity at some point, and I'm sure OP will next year. But IMO it's a tools issue with OP -- he needs to get stronger plain and simple. Oh, and he could just be a bust
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Agreed, strength is a big part of the toolset that he needs. And that one just comes down to desire and hard work (provided you have the DNA to benefit from the work).
gtn130 wrote:Also, I think work ethic is a limiting descriptor when it comes to the mental side of development. A lot comes down to basic intelligence, not just how hard you work. Nick Young and JaVale McGee clearly lack intelligence in a way that deeply affects their development. There is a dearth of self-awareness between those two that allows them to continue their collectively myopic style of basketball. They just don't have much common sense, and I think Nick Young is actually kind of slow. I don't mean that disparagingly; I think he's not someone who will ever 1) be able to make quick, smart decisions in game and 2) benefit a lot from high level coaching. Conversely, I think Blatche is/was more than capable of learning and improving but has massive work ethic and attitude problems (not that Young and McGee are exempt from that either).
Great description... I don't see Porter having an issue with either side, game decisions or listening to coaches. He doesn't seem like that kind of person - but I am not at the practices
It gives me some hope for Porter becoming a reasonably good player - the question is will he be worth the $4,470,480 then $4,662,960 and then $5,893,981 over the next three years? One can only hope...