Otto Porter

[DCZards]

^^^^^ yeah, I expect Bennett to turn to be one of the top three players from his draft class.

My top picks were:
Noel
McLemore
Bennett
Porter
Zeller/Len

[nate33]

Anthony Bennett looks awful

He caught fire late though, scoring 14 points in the 4th qtr:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSDXqEbe3UI[/youtube]

Pretty impressive. You gotta love the smoothness of that jumper. The man definitely has the shot creation skills to be a star caliber player. The only question is whether he'll do so with efficiency. You don't want a player forcing too many turnaround fadeaway jumpers.

[penbeast0]

When you do nothing at an elite level, and lack athleticism, your ability to develop into a good to very good player at the NBA level is negligible. Elite length, strong rebounding ability, and a ridiculous motor are nice, but the negatives going into the draft were exactly what showed up in the summer league. Far too early to make any judgment, but for those deeply concerned about his prospects before we even drafted him, everything to this point has simply reinforced our concerns.

Don't worry Otto will do just fine with his less-than-elite talent. He's a hard worker from a special family background. He also has a great bball IQ and a diverse set of on court skills.

Below is what's been written about a former NBA player who, like Porter, and didn't do anything at an elite level, except maybe defend. But he had a great career and is one of my all-time favorites. Otto reminds me of this guy in a lot of ways. I'm talking about Sidney Moncrief.

"He never finished in the top 10 in scoring or the top five in assists or rebounds. His team never made it to the NBA Finals. And his name doesn't appear on the list of all-time statistical leaders. But ask anyone to name the top all-around players of the 1980s, and Sidney Moncrief will be on that list. The 6-4 Moncrief was both an offensive threat and a tenacious defender. In his 11 NBA seasons, primarily with Milwaukee, he demonstrated that he could shoot from the outside, post up, dunk over 7-foot centers, make the key pass, crash the boards and slash through the paint for a layup."

Things that Sid was elite at:

Defense -- (obviously)
Focus -- Sid was one of those rare players who kept 100% intensity on both sides of the ball, didn't take time off on defense when he was the offensive focus or on offense when he was the defensive focus
Foul Draw -- Sid was at the Jordan level of foul draw despite shooting appreciably less -- that's how he came to be one of the elite players in the league in efficiency. One of best slashers of all time.

For 4 years, Sid was arguably the 3nd best SF of all time, behind only Jordan and prime Kobe and better than peak Wade. The only real issues with Sid were his outside shot (like Wade) and his playoff offense, which fell badly a couple of time (which is why I might take Wade over him for their peak 4 year stretches). He did have one of the great playoff runs defensively, shutting down All-Star Otis Birdsong, then HOFer Dennis Johnson. That's the point where I became one of his big fans even though his offense wasn't up to his normal standards in those series.

[GhostsOfGil]

Anthony Bennett looks awful

He caught fire late though, scoring 14 points in the 4th qtr:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSDXqEbe3UI[/youtube]

I was expecting more low post scoring. Nice looking stroke but if most of his offense is generated by high post fadeaways, Idk how efficient or streaky he will be.

[Illuminaire]

My favorite part of that clip is the announcer arguing that making shots will somehow magically get Bennett into better shape and conditioning.

[deneem4]

Jus remember I called it back during draft, oladipo will be rookie of the year...he's going to bring the magic up there....this yr...

[stevemcqueen1]

Pretty impressive. You gotta love the smoothness of that jumper. The man definitely has the shot creation skills to be a star caliber player. The only question is whether he'll do so with efficiency. You don't want a player forcing too many turnaround fadeaway jumpers.

What impressed me was the confidence and the aggression. He''s just out there playing, not afraid to try anything in his rather impressive repertoire. You're right that efficiency will make or break him. He can't be a Jordan Crawford or Andray Blatche and aggressively... make the wrong decisions. He needs to make good decisions and play with good anticipation and awareness. He was super efficient in college. Laid back personality, patient. And he's going to have a good PG. I think he'll be efficient.

I wish we had someone besides Wall that was that creative and aggressive. I love the way Beal and Porter and Nene play. But I think you need more than one creative, alpha type scorer to achieve balance.

[stevemcqueen1]

My favorite part of that clip is the announcer arguing that making shots will somehow magically get Bennett into better shape and conditioning.

Yeah that was nonsense. I think what he was really talking about was confidence. His point would have made sense if he just said: the game is fun when you're confident and have a taste of success to build on. Trying to tie that in with conditioning was incoherent.

[hands11]

Jus remember I called it back during draft, oladipo will be rookie of the year...he's going to bring the magic up there....this yr...

But were you the first ?

[montestewart]

Jus remember I called it back during draft, oladipo will be rookie of the year...he's going to bring the magic up there....this yr...

I'm sure they have a Predicted the Rookie of the Year Award. Good luck.

[Dark Faze]

Really impressed by Bennett coming out of nowhere in the 4th and going off but I'm concerned about his efficiency and how he looks when the jumper is off. He was absolute gutter trash when the jumper wasn't falling and his supposed explosive first step seemed like a fallacy.

He reminds me a lot of Beasley. Looking amazing once the jumper starts to hit and outside of that generally being ineffective.

As far as Porter is concerned--I like the pick even more after seeing our team. Ariza simply has too many times during the season where he simply looks disinterested and I'm concerned about our ability to keep him long term anyway. If Porter can display some creativity in creating his own shot, it would allow a relatively long term bench of Rice Jr and Martell, which should be solid.

We have terrible terrible huge woes at PF and C right now. To the point where Ernie should be looking into trades ASAP. I think Vesely is going to be a decent player but I don't think he fits this team right now. I'm hugely concerned about Nenes mental fortitude as well, as he seems fragile mentally and physically. Ideally, Nene, Okafor and Ariza are moved by the deadline. If we could find a way to get LMA that'd fix a lot of problems.

[hands11]

Really impressed by Bennett coming out of nowhere in the 4th and going off but I'm concerned about his efficiency and how he looks when the jumper is off. He was absolute gutter trash when the jumper wasn't falling and his supposed explosive first step seemed like a fallacy.

He reminds me a lot of Beasley. Looking amazing once the jumper starts to hit and outside of that generally being ineffective.

As far as Porter is concerned--I like the pick even more after seeing our team. Ariza simply has too many times during the season where he simply looks disinterested and I'm concerned about our ability to keep him long term anyway. If Porter can display some creativity in creating his own shot, it would allow a relatively long term bench of Rice Jr and Martell, which should be solid.

We have terrible terrible huge woes at PF and C right now. To the point where Ernie should be looking into trades ASAP. I think Vesely is going to be a decent player but I don't think he fits this team right now. I'm hugely concerned about Nenes mental fortitude as well, as he seems fragile mentally and physically. Ideally, Nene, Okafor and Ariza are moved by the deadline. If we could find a way to get LMA that'd fix a lot of problems.

I was glancing over the Draft version 1 thread. Lots of love was getting dished out for Otto.

I think a lot of the problem is frustration over rebuilding. I'm ready for them to start winning this year. If they could cash in and reload with a good trade, that would help because we would now more about the future direction. So could another rebuild year where they get a good pick in next years draft.

Either one helps. What feel less good is the feeling of sitting in between those worlds with Otto not out there so he is just a big question. Okafor out. Nene less then 100% and still signed 3 years. All we have left is hoping Wall and Beal can pick it up and pulling for Kevin, Ves and Booker which isn't a very hopeful feeling.

I think if Otto didn't get injured twice so far even before camp go going, there would be a little more buz in the air. Specially if he showed us something.

They need to pick up next game against Miami.

[Kanyewest]

I think if he start knocking down jumpers consistently he'll be fine as a pro. Like Bradley Beal, I was really impressed with his shot selection even in summer league- he simply wasn't knocking down his jump shot. I think Porter is willing to put in the time and effort. Hopefully, things work out for him here in DC

BTW, interesting letter posted by the Washington Post about Otto Porter about him buying food for a homeless person, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html). .

[Dark Faze]

The biggest thing I picked up on with Otto was how quick he was out in transition with his length. I hope I don't sound too hyperbolic here, but other than LeBron I don't know of an SF who got up the court as quick as Otto did from what I could see. He covers tremendous ground and he didn't get a lot of chances to show off his fast break ability in Georgetown.

We're in desperate need of a perimeter player who can create on his own. Otto has more of that in him than Beal does and Ariza, Brad and Martell, for as talented as they are, are catch and shoot types.

[jivelikenice]

Now that they're back from Brazil it would be nice to get an updated on Otto's condition.

[penbeast0]

...

I think if Otto didn't get injured twice so far even before camp go going, there would be a little more buz in the air. Specially if he showed us something.

They need to pick up next game against Miami.

I think the miserable summer league play was a real damper on our hopes for Otto. Top 5 picks should dominate in summer league, not be dominated. Then the injury so that's the last impression of him we have and . . . . it's the Curse of Les Boulez again.

[nuposse04]

I think if he start knocking down jumpers consistently he'll be fine as a pro. Like Bradley Beal, I was really impressed with his shot selection even in summer league- he simply wasn't knocking down his jump shot. I think Porter is willing to put in the time and effort. Hopefully, things work out for him here in DC

BTW, interesting letter posted by the Washington Post about Otto Porter about him buying food for a homeless person, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html). .

He shot fairly well at Georgetown. His sophomore season was better then Prince's 4th season (shooting from distance) so I'm not sure why people would think he can't shoot. He may slump early (like beal) but I imagine he'll at least end up better then Ariza from outside. I actually like Otto's mid range game as well, more so then Ariza's anyways. Still, it would be refreshing to hear what he has been doing in the weight room since his injury. My biggest concern with him still is his girth.

[DCZards]

I actually like Otto's mid range game as well, more so then Ariza's anyways.

Otto's strength is his midrange jumper. I really like his game from spots just inside the foul line (12-15 feet). It will be Otto's ability to knock down the midrange jumper that will make him a threat as a passer and someone capable of facilitating the offense. I see him consistently setting up teammates for easy baskets, much like he did at G'Town.

[jivelikenice]

After watching Ariza, I am ready to move on from him and see Otto backup Martell. Ariza looks completey disinterested at times and has no awareness of his own skillset. His biggest obstacle is himself and not understanding his own strengths and weaknesses.

[rockymac52]

Much like everybody else around here, I have no idea what to expect from Porter. That applies to both his rookie season and his long-term future. At the time of the draft, I wanted Porter, and I was happy with the pick (note: I wasn't overjoyed and expecting him to become an all-star, however). His summer league performance was concerning, and it's frustrating that he's already dinged up and not playing in preseason games so far. However, at the same time, that's such a small sample size and we can't make too much of it too soon. So basically I'm on the same page as the majority of this board when it comes to Porter.

What I'm wondering, is what our front office realistically expects Porter to develop into. It's not so important how well he plays this season, honestly. If he's not good (yet), we'll survive since we have Webster and Ariza (as well as Rice, possibly). If he is good already, then awesome, that's a great problem to have. What I'm more focused on is how good he's going to be in 3-4 years.

I'd be satisfied if he developed into "only" a solid role player. It was a weak draft, we all know that. I'd obviously prefer Porter to develop into an all-star caliber player, but I just don't see it likely happening at the moment.


Here's what I'm getting at though...

If our front office realistically expects Porter to develop into a solid role player or a decent starter, rather than a true impact player, then I think it might be in our best interest to trade him now. Simply put, I think his perceived value right now might be as high as it's going to get any time soon. If he's a true bust, then his value is next to nothing. If we bring him along slowly as a rookie since we have depth on the wing, and then he develops into a role player over the coming seasons, while he might be a quality player to have on your roster, his trade value wouldn't be very high. At the moment, however, I think his trade value is pretty damn high (not untouchable or a surefire future star or anything like that, but a relatively valued piece).

I don't expect us to move Porter before the season, during the season, or even in the next few years most likely. However, I think that might be our best move. I'm not saying we should trade Porter for a role player big man, or a stop-gap of sorts. If we move him we need to be getting a piece that we expect to be contributing at a fairly high level for us for the next few years, minimum. I'm not sure what's out there, availability-wise, but I'd like to imagine that the #3 pick in the most recent draft, even if a weak one, could net us a quality player or asset, especially if combined with another one of ours.

My fear is that we bring him along slowly this season, and while people may not consider him a true bust, he will be somewhat forgotten and overlooked, and he will quickly be seen as just a decent role player at best. If that turns out to be the case, then we missed out on an opportunity to trade him while his value was maximized (now).