Otto Porter

[barelyawake]

All these people come out now and say they wanted Nerlens Noel but at the time of the draft noone was willing to stick their neck out and say it.

I certainly was. I certainly have been saying for years that we need a young big, and have been roundly attacked for backing: Marc Gasol (wanted to buy a pick to get him); Drummond; Gobert (the draft page here was calling him the biggest bust of the draft, I wanted to buy picks to get him); and yes Noel. Noel is exactly the type of player we need to pair with Durant.

Porter will be better than he is playing. But, we need a foundational piece much more. Porter, Beal, Serphin and Gortat are all good pieces that we can package in some way to get a great piece. And we need another great piece.

[stevemcqueen1]

Paul Pierce is good for about 26 minutes a game total. Playing him ~15 MPG at PF would be over half his minutes. He doesn't need to be guarding PFs that much that regularly at his age. Pierce at 4 is something that should only be done situationally--when we get a favorable match up or are desperately trying to counter a bad match up like Atlanta or Toronto or OKC when KD is playing the 4.

And in those situations, Otto should probably be getting time at the 4 too.

[fishercob]

Paul Pierce is good for about 26 minutes a game total. Playing him ~15 MPG at PF would be over half his minutes. He doesn't need to be guarding PFs that much that regularly at his age. Pierce at 4 is something that should only be done situationally--when we get a favorable match up or are desperately trying to counter a bad match up like Atlanta or Toronto or OKC when KD is playing the 4.

And in those situations, Otto should probably be getting time at the 4 too.

Pierce played nearly exclusively at the 4 for Brooklyn last year. He'd be fine at the 4, particularly against backups. Start him at SF, get him out earlyish and bring him back at PF with the bench group. Not that hard.

[Ruzious]

Exactly Fish. Play Pierce at the 4 - 15 minutes a game or so. That solves a lot of issues.

The problem then becomes, who do you kick out of the rotation (or lessen their minutes)? If we put Pierce at the 4 for 15 minutes a game, that's 15 less minutes for Humphries and/or Seraphin. Nene and Gortat can't get any less minutes as they're already playing so few as it is.

No way Randy is giving Seraphin less minutes seeing as how he is the #1 fan of the Kevin Bandwagon. And Humphries shouldn't be bumped down. He's getting the proper amount of minutes per game currently (21).

I don't think there's a right answer to this dilemma other than wait and see who starts to play really poorly and take them out of the rotation accordingly. That seems to be the only thing a team with too much depth can do.

When it comes down to it, nobody should have a problem decreasing Kevin's minutes.

[closg00]

All these people come out now and say they wanted Nerlens Noel but at the time of the draft noone was willing to stick their neck out and say it.

I certainly was. I certainly have been saying for years that we need a young big, and have been roundly attacked for backing: Marc Gasol (wanted to buy a pick to get him); Drummond; Gobert (the draft page here was calling him the biggest bust of the draft, I wanted to buy picks to get him); and yes Noel. Noel is exactly the type of player we need to pair with Durant.

Porter will be better than he is playing. But, we need a foundational piece much more. Porter, Beal, Serphin and Gortat are all good pieces that we can package in some way to get a great piece. And we need another great piece.

Porter won the draft poll easily, but you can see that there was support for drafting other players, and Noel wasn't on the poll.
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[queridiculo]

I was pretty damn adamant about picking a big, Len was one of the targets, I liked Olynik as well. The general assumption at the time was that Noels would be off the board by the time the Wizards picked.

When he dropped, he should have been the pick.

I hated the Porter pick, not because I don't like him as a player, but because we had a chance to address an area of need with a blue chip prospect.

With Webster under contract, Pierce in the fold and Rasual Butler playing lights out, I think it's pretty obvious that the Porter pick hasn't helped this franchise on bit.

Another lottery disaster by our GM.

[stevemcqueen1]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

[Higga]

I still like Porter and think he'll blossom into a fine player, but it may not be here. Our best bet might be to hope that he plays real well in the limited time he gets so we can maybe trade him in the future to acquire a player that can help put us over the top.

[Ruzious]

Most people aren't going to buy this, but Porter is just about equal to Beal as a player right now. Porter has a slightly higher eFG% and Beal wins at PER by a 14.2 to 12.6 margin. And they're both 21 - born in the same month. Porter has not flopped here. He just hasn't gotten the playing time that golden boy Beal has - and he hasn't played much with Wall.

[pcbothwel]

It should be noted that when team with top talent fail (Lakers with Malone/Payton, Cleveland now, etc.) its precisely because they dont have guys like Porter. A heady player that knows where to be, makes the right pass, and timely offensive put back. That is his floor, but he easily has a smoothness to his game to grow into much more than that. People are overreacting to this right now...

[Kanyewest]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

I'm not sure if the hindsight pick is Len, but Noel has been pretty sub-par so far. Although it might work out for Noel if Embiid is a stud.

[JWizmentality]

Most people aren't going to buy this, but Porter is just about equal to Beal as a player right now. Porter has a slightly higher eFG% and Beal wins at PER by a 14.2 to 12.6 margin. And they're both 21 - born in the same month. Porter has not flopped here. He just hasn't gotten the playing time that golden boy Beal has - and he hasn't played much with Wall.

Totally agree. I really don't like how Porter is being used. He provides much more than Webster at this point but Randy has his favorites.

[asindc]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

This is the main reason I never bought into the Noel hype. I simply don't trust young players that are so lacking in offensive skills. I was for drafting Porter and I don't think he should be written off yet. I think the biggest issue with him at this point is confidence. We really need him to begin earning Butler's minutes in the long run, as Porter is the more skillful player of the two. Wittman is in a tough spot with him, as he needs more minutes, but does not (yet) validate the decision to give him more.

[fishercob]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

I think when it's all said and done, Porter will prove to be a good use of that pick.

But if we want to play the hindsight game, let's talk about Rudy Gobert. He's 22, on his way to being a better Tyson Chandler, and Utah traded cash and the 46th pick to get him.

We could have had him -- as could have the entire league. Given where he was picked, his contract is going to be one of the league's single most valuable for the next few years.

[stevemcqueen1]

Most people aren't going to buy this, but Porter is just about equal to Beal as a player right now. Porter has a slightly higher eFG% and Beal wins at PER by a 14.2 to 12.6 margin. And they're both 21 - born in the same month. Porter has not flopped here. He just hasn't gotten the playing time that golden boy Beal has - and he hasn't played much with Wall.

A function of our SG and SF situations. If Beal had shown up with established, quality SGs ahead of him, he wouldn't have gotten this golden opportunity to play. The only guy eating into Beal's opportunity was Crawford and he got dealt pretty quickly.

Beal is a bigger talent than Porter IMO, but right now, Porter has the skills to contribute as much as Beal in everything but three point shooting.

I do think Porter is developing and getting better, so there is some level of development that can happen from the bench. But he needs to play to take the next step. It's still early, we're not even half way through his second season and he was a young college sophomore. It's hard to be patient and wait for him to get his opportunity when you see Greek Freak and Alex Len making an impact for their teams. Especially since we know Porter has a very well developed offensive game that could help the team out right now if he had a regularized role with predictable minutes in predictable line ups night in and night out.

What can you do though? He's got a first ballot HoFer and the guy who is second in the league in 3P % ahead of him right now. And the year before it was another veteran wing having a career season as one of the most productive 3 and D players in the league.

The solution to the logjam is two fold. Otto needs to get that three ball down and the FO needs to deal a SF for a SG and balance out the roster. The 3 ball is literally the only thing keeping Otto from being a much bigger part of the rotation.

[stevemcqueen1]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

I think when it's all said and done, Porter will prove to be a good use of that pick.

But if we want to play the hindsight game, let's talk about Rudy Gobert. He's 22, on his way to being a better Tyson Chandler, and Utah traded cash and the 46th pick to get him.

We could have had him -- as could have the entire league. Given where he was picked, his contract is going to be one of the league's single most valuable for the next few years.

Yeah he would have been a good pick up in hindsight too. As would Greek Freak. When we look back at this class in a couple seasons, I think Len and Giannis will be the guys who should have gone one and two.

Despite that, I'll be happy with Porter once he starts playing. I'm confident in his ability. He is too smart and too skilled not to end up being a terrific starter. But it'll be a shame and a failure on our part if we have to wait until the end of his rookie contract to take him out of the box.

[barelyawake]

Noel has been garbage. If he were playing the way he is for us, 85% of the fan base would be calling him a bust. Actually there is no way he'd be playing for us, he'd be buried on the bench with no hope of ever displacing Gortat in the future. He has less workable offensive skill than Vesely did.

The hindsight pick is clearly Alex Len, but again he'd have had trouble stealing the starting job from Gortat. And with his injury history, Phoenix was a much better landing spot for him than we would have been.

I think when it's all said and done, Porter will prove to be a good use of that pick.

But if we want to play the hindsight game, let's talk about Rudy Gobert. He's 22, on his way to being a better Tyson Chandler, and Utah traded cash and the 46th pick to get him.

We could have had him -- as could have the entire league. Given where he was picked, his contract is going to be one of the league's single most valuable for the next few years.

Yes, let us please talk about Gobert and bump that thread. Someone around here was championing doing exactly what Utah did.

Porter is fine and good. Beal is fine and good. Gortat is fine and good. I like them all. Somehow, we need someone who isn't just good. And we probably have to trade good players to get that player. Otherwise, we are going to be a top 10 team, but not a top 2 or 3 team.

[miller31time]

Exactly Fish. Play Pierce at the 4 - 15 minutes a game or so. That solves a lot of issues.

The problem then becomes, who do you kick out of the rotation (or lessen their minutes)? If we put Pierce at the 4 for 15 minutes a game, that's 15 less minutes for Humphries and/or Seraphin. Nene and Gortat can't get any less minutes as they're already playing so few as it is.

No way Randy is giving Seraphin less minutes seeing as how he is the #1 fan of the Kevin Bandwagon. And Humphries shouldn't be bumped down. He's getting the proper amount of minutes per game currently (21).

I don't think there's a right answer to this dilemma other than wait and see who starts to play really poorly and take them out of the rotation accordingly. That seems to be the only thing a team with too much depth can do.

When it comes down to it, nobody should have a problem decreasing Kevin's minutes.

You're not going to get any objection from me. I can't stand Seraphin's game (save for the last two nuts the blind squirrel stumbled on). I just don't see Wittman making any changes there.

[miller31time]

Exactly Fish. Play Pierce at the 4 - 15 minutes a game or so. That solves a lot of issues.

The problem then becomes, who do you kick out of the rotation (or lessen their minutes)? If we put Pierce at the 4 for 15 minutes a game, that's 15 less minutes for Humphries and/or Seraphin. Nene and Gortat can't get any less minutes as they're already playing so few as it is.

No way Randy is giving Seraphin less minutes seeing as how he is the #1 fan of the Kevin Bandwagon. And Humphries shouldn't be bumped down. He's getting the proper amount of minutes per game currently (21).

I don't think there's a right answer to this dilemma other than wait and see who starts to play really poorly and take them out of the rotation accordingly. That seems to be the only thing a team with too much depth can do.

Or make a trade or wait to see who gets hurt. Everyone on our roster is healthy at this current moment. That's not going to last. Also, I think we should take a gamble and try and sell high on Rasual Butler. He probably wouldn't net a lot of return, but his numbers and contract are such that other teams would be interested in him. Trading Porter should be out of the question right now, we'll never get an offer back that'd make it worth it. Butler would be far easier to move than Webster.

I'm pretty confident we're getting the last good basketball out of Butler and I don't have a lot of confidence in him sustaining his play through the postseason this year. I'd make a move before the AS break and give the team time to adjust to new rotation pieces and then cross my fingers that none of my SFs get hurt.

Blair should be on the table too.

I'm fine with this too. But again, while its great in theory, it just isn't likely to happen. Ernie isn't trading Butler, a guy who has been uncharacteristically amazing for us this season. He isn't trading anyone, for that matter, at least while the team continues to win at a decent clip.

[miller31time]

Exactly Fish. Play Pierce at the 4 - 15 minutes a game or so. That solves a lot of issues.

The problem then becomes, who do you kick out of the rotation (or lessen their minutes)? If we put Pierce at the 4 for 15 minutes a game, that's 15 less minutes for Humphries and/or Seraphin. Nene and Gortat can't get any less minutes as they're already playing so few as it is.

No way Randy is giving Seraphin less minutes seeing as how he is the #1 fan of the Kevin Bandwagon. And Humphries shouldn't be bumped down. He's getting the proper amount of minutes per game currently (21).

I don't think there's a right answer to this dilemma other than wait and see who starts to play really poorly and take them out of the rotation accordingly. That seems to be the only thing a team with too much depth can do.

Perhaps Nene and Pierce should alternate sitting out on some B2B's. Six of the Wizards next 9 games are of the B2B variety.

Randy should also plan on going smaller against teams that kill us in our two-big alignment, namely Toronto and Atlanta, whom we both play in the next month.

That will create opportunity for PP at the 4.

I like that idea if exceptions are made. Can't have Nene or Pierce sitting against top teams just because they happen to be on a B2B. I'd just give them rest against bad teams in general, back to back or not.