Otto Porter

[dangermouse]

I remember wanting Zeller. I remember most definitely not wanting the dude the cavs picked. I was of the opinion that otto was a "safe pick" and thought maybe by now he would have worked his way into the rotation, at the very least.

Right now I wish we picked Zeller for all the same reasons as back then. He's as good an athlete as vesely and ten times the basketball player already.

Still holding out hope that I am proven wrong

[Kanyewest]

I could see Zeller rotting away on the bench if he was on the Wizards. It may have to do more with the coach (9 man rotations) than with Porter.

[Dat2U]

I could see Zeller rotting away on the bench if he was on the Wizards. It may have to do more with the coach (9 man rotations) than with Porter.

Exactly, folks shouldn't get it twisted. Remember how bad Zeller looked early on? Witt likely wouldn't have been giving consistent minutes to Zeller for him to develop, much like what has occurred with Porter.

Same goes for Len, he would have been glued to the bench. Why would Witt play him when he can play Al Harrington at C? Plus the Phoenix medical staff spent months getting Len to the point where he could physically play. Not sure he'd be a good health risk with our staff.

[Illuminaire]

Yeah. In a vacuum it looks like Porter is a bust, but he's not playing in a vacuum. He's an untried rookie at the deepest position on a team run by a GM and a coach who are both playing for their jobs.

Otto would have had to show all-star level talent as a rookie to get real minutes on the Wizards this year. That wasn't happening, and I never expected him to get anything but garbage time play as long as Ariza and Webster were healthy. That Porter himself was the one who came up injured essentially damned him to the bench for the season, and that was that.

(I should add that while I would have personally prioritized player development, I can understand why Wittman would have no incentive to do so. His boss wants the playoffs. His boss' boss wants the playoffs. Otto needed a year to get comfortable in college; it was likely he would need solid burn to get comfortable in the pros, even if he was ready to contribute from day one.

Porter's present skillset also lacks a critical tool that Wittman is relying on from the SF position - three point range. From a win-now strategic perspective it made no sense to play Otto even if he was as good as Ariza in every other aspect of the game. )

[dckingsfan]

Yeah. In a vacuum it looks like Porter is a bust, but he's not playing in a vacuum. He's an untried rookie at the deepest position on a team run by a GM and a coach who are both playing for their jobs.

Otto would have had to show all-star level talent as a rookie to get real minutes on the Wizards this year. That wasn't happening, and I never expected him to get anything but garbage time play as long as Ariza and Webster were healthy. That Porter himself was the one who came up injured essentially damned him to the bench for the season, and that was that.

(I should add that while I would have personally prioritized player development, I can understand why Wittman would have no incentive to do so. His boss wants the playoffs. His boss' boss wants the playoffs. Otto needed a year to get comfortable in college; it was likely he would need solid burn to get comfortable in the pros, even if he was ready to contribute from day one.

Porter's present skillset also lacks a critical tool that Wittman is relying on from the SF position - three point range. From a win-now strategic perspective it made no sense to play Otto even if he was as good as Ariza in every other aspect of the game. )

Really good narrative. And that being the case - why would you draft Porter? Wouldn't it have been better to trade the pick for someone that would play? Or draft a player at a position of weakness? The only possibility is that EG really felt that Porter had superstar potential.

[stevemcqueen1]

Sucks that he didn't play more this year. But Porter is still in the team's plans. Their plans have to be that he'll eventually be the long term starting SF.

Some things he needs to do to get there IMO:
- add strength and bulk
- improve his set shooting and develop legit three point range
- develop his PnR and pick and pop game to the point where we can run this for him
- learn the defensive system well enough to play plus defense

[stevemcqueen1]

Yeah. In a vacuum it looks like Porter is a bust, but he's not playing in a vacuum. He's an untried rookie at the deepest position on a team run by a GM and a coach who are both playing for their jobs.

Otto would have had to show all-star level talent as a rookie to get real minutes on the Wizards this year. That wasn't happening, and I never expected him to get anything but garbage time play as long as Ariza and Webster were healthy. That Porter himself was the one who came up injured essentially damned him to the bench for the season, and that was that.

(I should add that while I would have personally prioritized player development, I can understand why Wittman would have no incentive to do so. His boss wants the playoffs. His boss' boss wants the playoffs. Otto needed a year to get comfortable in college; it was likely he would need solid burn to get comfortable in the pros, even if he was ready to contribute from day one.

Porter's present skillset also lacks a critical tool that Wittman is relying on from the SF position - three point range. From a win-now strategic perspective it made no sense to play Otto even if he was as good as Ariza in every other aspect of the game. )

Really good narrative. And that being the case - why would you draft Porter? Wouldn't it have been better to trade the pick for someone that would play? Or draft a player at a position of weakness? The only possibility is that EG really felt that Porter had superstar potential.

No he could have just thought Porter was the BPA. I definitely think Ernie saw Otto as the future starter at SF over the long term.

[AFM]

Sucks that he didn't play more this year. But Porter is still in the team's plans. Their plans have to be that he'll eventually be the long term starting SF.

Some things he needs to do to get there IMO:
- add strength and bulk
- improve his set shooting and develop legit three point range
- develop his PnR and pick and pop game to the point where we can run this for him
- learn the defensive system well enough to play plus defense

So he needs to change his body, learn how to shoot, learn the team's offense, and learn the team's defense. Thanks steve.

[stevemcqueen1]

Sucks that he didn't play more this year. But Porter is still in the team's plans. Their plans have to be that he'll eventually be the long term starting SF.

Some things he needs to do to get there IMO:
- add strength and bulk
- improve his set shooting and develop legit three point range
- develop his PnR and pick and pop game to the point where we can run this for him
- learn the defensive system well enough to play plus defense

So he needs to change his body, learn how to shoot, learn the team's offense, and learn the team's defense. Thanks steve.

That's pretty much the list for every young player isn't it?

[dckingsfan]

No he could have just thought Porter was the BPA. I definitely think Ernie saw Otto as the future starter at SF over the long term.

Good point - probably best to draft BPA. But that is kind of damning as well, no?

[Zonkerbl]

Ugh, Nerlens Noel won't play a single game this year.

I wish I could just SEE HIM PLAY at the NBA level, to know if we made a mistake or not. You know? Because if Porter wasn't going to play at all this year, why not take Noel then?

[stevemcqueen1]

No he could have just thought Porter was the BPA. I definitely think Ernie saw Otto as the future starter at SF over the long term.

Good point - probably best to draft BPA. But that is kind of damning as well, no?

I think when you're so high in the draft, going BPA is the best way. The only time you shouldn't is if you've got a foundation piece player at that position and there isn't positional versatility. For example, if the BPA this year had been a pure PG or pure SG, I think you have to pass because we're expecting Wall and Beal to be our starters at those positions for the next decade. Otherwise BPA is going to be your safest way to make sure you don't get a bust. A pick that high is such a resource, you want to at least get a long term contributor for one position out of it. Preferably an eventual starter, but you're still OK if it's a big rotation player like James Harden was for OKC.

Porter being behind Webster and Ariza as a rookie doesn't mean he wasn't the BPA. I'm not really sure there was a single rookie at any position that could have gotten a starting job here this season. It was unfortunate for Porter that we're actually two deep at his position, and that those guys have been healthy almost the entire year. So there weren't any minutes for him. Unfortunate for Porter but not for the team.

I don't think there is much point in getting worried about his PT as a rookie because we all know why he's not playing. No minutes available by default on a team with a mandate to win now and a coach and GM fighting for extensions. The one good thing is that there hasn't really been pressure on Porter to produce early. We're just going to have to wait to see how his situation plays out long term.

But if I were in charge, I'd let Ariza walk this summer to force Randy into using him. Expedite his development. We could be waiting for a long time if we wait until Porter gets good enough to beat Ariza for the starting job outright. And I'd use the money saved from Ariza to pursue a strong shooting PF.

[tontoz]

Really good narrative. And that being the case - why would you draft Porter? Wouldn't it have been better to trade the pick for someone that would play? Or draft a player at a position of weakness? The only possibility is that EG really felt that Porter had superstar potential.

The reason to draft Porter was that they believed he was the BPA.

When you are drafting that high you shouldn't be drafting around role players. At the time of the draft Webster wasn't even on the roster and Ariza had only a year left on his deal.

the only legit reason to pass on Porter is if they thought someone else was the BPA. It may turn out that he wasn't the BPA but that remains to be seen.

[dckingsfan]

Good points stevemcqueen1 and tontoz - and maybe you should always draft BPA - no matter where you are.

[queridiculo]

Ugh, Nerlens Noel won't play a single game this year.

I wish I could just SEE HIM PLAY at the NBA level, to know if we made a mistake or not. You know? Because if Porter wasn't going to play at all this year, why not take Noel then?

It was obvious from day one that Noel wouldn't be available to play, that shouldn't have precluded the team from drafting however.

He was the player with the most upside and as a bonus, plays a position that's historically the hardest to fill on an NBA roster.

It was a no-brainer.

[dckingsfan]

Yeah, I wanted us to trade down for two bigs... I wanted two of Adams, Olynk, Plumlee, Gobert or Dieng for the #3 pick.

I guess it would be hard to trade down and pickup a couple of bigs. But I didn't see anyone at the top of the list I wanted. If Noel turns out to be really good, I missed that one. I missed MCW as well. And if we had have drafted Gobert and Dieng, I would have missed that one as well.

[stevemcqueen1]

Good points stevemcqueen1 and tontoz - and maybe you should always draft BPA - no matter where you are.

Well I think it gets muddled after a certain point. You're ranking players in tiers mostly, and then prioritizing the ones that will fill useful roles for your team within that tier.

BPA is a good guide, but I think you also have to have a plan for every player you draft or sign. You need to know what role you want them to fill.

[sashae]

~*otto porter sighting*~

:drudge siren:

[jeffsays]

Otto was great tonight, he deserves more minutes.

[hands11]

Otto looks ready to get those minutes tonight and he took advantage of them.

He doesn't play scared. That first 3 ball was fearless.