KPJ with 50 point 10 assist game at 20 years old

[chrbal]

I get what you're trying to say, but I can't believe no one has fact checked the first sentence yet.

Milwaukee had nothing to do with selecting KPJ. They had already traded the 30th pick a few days before the draft along with Tony Snell for Jon Leuer and promptly waived and stretched Leuer to free up money for the impending giant Middleton extension. No one really expected KPJ to be available at the end of the first round so don't think Milwaukee can take any heat for this.

It was actually my Pistons who decided that no one at pick 30 was worth keeping and decided to trade this pick to Cleveland for four second round picks.

The Cavs obviously made the right pick but screwed up thereafter and then traded him for peanuts.

The only teams that should be clowned for missing on KPJ are the Pistons and the Cavs.

As a pistons fan I don’t think we would have ever drafted him had we kept the pick. I’m more frustrated that we didn’t trade a random low 2nd for him. Even if this turns into a tony wroten type story, it’s still worth taking a small risk on.

[Alonzo_Morning]

I didn't even realise he had the 10 assists too. What a game

He literally looks like the second coming of Harden

[Alonzo_Morning]

His game resembles a future star player. He didn’t just get hot and shoot spot up threes to the 50, he has lead scoring abilities

Yep. He is very skilled and crafty. Like Harden. But I don't think he'll ever get to Harden's level of just playing for the foul

[yoyoboy]

Or perhaps he ends up being better than Sexton and/or Garland. That’s also a possible outcome here.

Anyone can end up being better than anyone. Obviously that’s a theoretical possible outcome. That doesn’t change the fact that no team in the league would rather have KPJ going forward than either of Garland or Sexton.

Anyone could end up being better then anyone theoretically, but obviously some young players flash a lot more talent and upside then others. Let’s not pretend that throwing everyone into the same potential barrel is an intelligent argument. It’s just a lazy one.

And most teams would likely rather have Sexton and Garland, but a huge reason for that is Porter’s off court issues, not his talent and upside. And it doesn’t change the fact that the rebuilding Cavs lost a talented young 20 year old for basically nothing which definitely hurts. (And yes, i know the internal details behind the move).

I criticized the Cavs heavily for giving up Porter for nothing. Check the game thread from last night and you can see me further expound on it. He's a talented kid who moves very well on the court. I just don't agree that he was the best guard on our roster when Garland and Sexton are both better right now/better prospects moving forward.

[BallerTalk]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

ALL of those guys, with the exception of maybe Ross, were in their mid to late 20s and halfway through their careers.
Porter has yet to play a full season's worth of games.

Are we really that desperate to malign the dude's night?

[DreamTeam09]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

ALL of those guys, with the exception of maybe Ross, were in their mid to late 20s and halfway through their careers.
Porter has yet to play a full season's worth of games.

Are we really that desperate to malign the dude's night?

Jennings went for 50 in his rookie year btw....

I think Jennings is an NBA player tho so i'm on the side of "good job, keep it up, become smarter n better defensively"

[jbk1234]

It’s crazy Cleveland waived him for rightly throwing a fit when they moved his locker to an auxiliary room to make room for Taurean Prince when he should’ve been starting for them.

Huh, that is crazy. Why wasn't he starting for them, or even suiting up for that matter, again? Let me see if I can remember...

[cupcakesnake]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

ALL of those guys, with the exception of maybe Ross, were in their mid to late 20s and halfway through their careers.
Porter has yet to play a full season's worth of games.

Are we really that desperate to malign the dude's night?

Naw you are in rarefied air with a 50 piece. If he retires tomorrow he can tell his grandchildren he dropped 50 in the NBA. It's awesome whenever anyone scores 50. I just push back on people that are like "how did other teams miss this guy?!" or are saying he's now a can't miss star. Maybe he builds on this opportunity, or maybe it's a flash in the pan. I'm think I'm capping the hype appropriately. But yeah, also fair enough, it would be more positive to just let people enjoy it!

[The_Hater]

Anyone can end up being better than anyone. Obviously that’s a theoretical possible outcome. That doesn’t change the fact that no team in the league would rather have KPJ going forward than either of Garland or Sexton.

Anyone could end up being better then anyone theoretically, but obviously some young players flash a lot more talent and upside then others. Let’s not pretend that throwing everyone into the same potential barrel is an intelligent argument. It’s just a lazy one.

And most teams would likely rather have Sexton and Garland, but a huge reason for that is Porter’s off court issues, not his talent and upside. And it doesn’t change the fact that the rebuilding Cavs lost a talented young 20 year old for basically nothing which definitely hurts. (And yes, i know the internal details behind the move).

I criticized the Cavs heavily for giving up Porter for nothing. Check the game thread from last night and you can see me further expound on it. He's a talented kid who moves very well on the court. I just don't agree that he was the best guard on our roster when Garland and Sexton are both better right now/better prospects moving forward.

At this point we’re almost certain on the same page and just debating very minor things. My original comment was just a throwaway line, not deep some analysis on my part. And after yet another off court issue I don’t think teams were lined up to acquire Porter from the Cavs either. Heck, he just got fined for the Miami incident/outing this week. He has as many red flags as any player in the league. Anyways, good luck.

[jbk1234]

22 games isn't enough to put real meaning into a percentage. Just this one game jumped his percentage up to 32%.

Ok, let me rephrase.

"He's a career 31% 3pt shooter who went 9-15 from 3. I'm happy for him and all but this is the definition of something you fluke into."

It's one game. A nice game, but still just one game. It doesn't mean he's a future All Star. It doesn't mean he's a core piece for Houston going forward, or that Cleveland were morons for trading him. It's just a good game.

Well he’s had several other very good games with the Rockets so would argue it isn’t just 1 game. He’s averaging 16/6/4 right now.

20 years old and the Cavs got a 2nd round pick for him. He might do nothing else his entire career and perhaps the Cavs won’t regret it as you said, but as of right now it’s hard to imagine that he isn’t going to have a considerably better career then the 2024 Warriors 2nd round pick. I don’t think that would be a crazy prediction.

If he can keep it together, he'll have a good career. But T. Ross once scored 50 for the Raptors IIRC and didn't turn into an all star. In addition to his off the court issues, he has huge variances in his play. He'll come out and drop 20-30 points and then disappear for a couple games. It's important to remember that he's leading the Rockets to the worst record in the league right now.

[The_Hater]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

ALL of those guys, with the exception of maybe Ross, were in their mid to late 20s and halfway through their careers.
Porter has yet to play a full season's worth of games.

Are we really that desperate to malign the dude's night?

Naw you are in rarefied air with a 50 piece. If he retires tomorrow he can tell his grandchildren he dropped 50 in the NBA. It's awesome whenever anyone scores 50. I just push back on people that are like "how did other teams miss this guy?!" or are saying he's now a can't miss star. Maybe he builds on this opportunity, or maybe it's a flash in the pan. I'm think I'm capping the hype appropriately. But yeah, also fair enough, it would be more positive to just let people enjoy it!

Ya, 50 is the magic number in that league. It’s not 40 or 60. But there have also been a bunch of 50 point games in NBA history posted by otherwise unimpressive players as you mentioned.It happens. I remember when Ross dropped 50 some Raptor fans claimed that it was proof that he was a future star because only stars could drop that many points. But that’s false.

I would be interested to know how many players younger than Porter have hit 50 though?

[magee]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

Now KPJ has been lighting it up in Houston pretty routinely, even before the 50 piece, but I think this is another thing we forget is kind of common. There are a lot of guys in the NBA who can step into the volume scorer on a bad team role. Tony Wroten's stats in Phili (2015) look pretty identical to what KPJ is doing in Houston. Flip Murray used to have stretches like this when a bad team was desperate for a guy to dribble and take shots.

I don't want to be pessimistic, I just don't get excited anymore when a trigger happy guard gets a chance on a bad team. Maybe KPJ becomes and rotation player, but this kind of performance doesn't guarantee that at all.

Wesley had the shortest career of those scorers, and he played five years in the NBA, over ten including international competition. So while he may never get to "All-Star" level or the height that has been mentioned in this thread, longevity in the NBA is on his side.

Tony Wroten is actually a great comparison for him. We'll see if he pieces it together or if he goes the way of Wroten's career. Signs point for a longer career in the NBA for KPJ.

[The_Hater]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

Now KPJ has been lighting it up in Houston pretty routinely, even before the 50 piece, but I think this is another thing we forget is kind of common. There are a lot of guys in the NBA who can step into the volume scorer on a bad team role. Tony Wroten's stats in Phili (2015) look pretty identical to what KPJ is doing in Houston. Flip Murray used to have stretches like this when a bad team was desperate for a guy to dribble and take shots.

I don't want to be pessimistic, I just don't get excited anymore when a trigger happy guard gets a chance on a bad team. Maybe KPJ becomes and rotation player, but this kind of performance doesn't guarantee that at all.

Wesley had the shortest career of those scorers, and he played five years in the NBA, over ten including international competition. So while he may never get to "All-Star" level or the height that has been mentioned in this thread, longevity in the NBA is on his side.

Tony Wroten is actually a great comparison for him. We'll see if he pieces it together or if he goes the way of Wroten's career. Signs point for a longer career in the NBA for KPJ.

That’s interesting. I would put his potential and trajectory ahead of Wroten, but I can see the comparison too. Waiters is another player in this mold although he seemed to get a bunch more chances to succeed.

[ThatBoyNick]

Remember fellas, it ain’t just 50.... it’s 50 & 10 assist

We’re arguing it being a lucky fluke to drop 50, but to drop 11 assist while having a fluke 50 point game?? Idk, the guy is crazy inconsistent, he is 20, he has had a coach/organization change, he has had off court issues, he’s only played 70 games, we’ll see, that game last night was insanely similar to a Harden game

And he did it against Jrue Holiday

[JN61]

Worst FO of a contending team by far.
These moves deserve a separate thread

I mean, there are Celtics, but you are right. They aren't contenting.

[Lockdown504090]

The 50 piece is nice. But anyone who thinks this guarantees he's even a rotation player is forgetting that this happens.
Random forgettable NBA players who have scored 50: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Walt Wesley, Terrence Ross, Willie Burton, Tracy Murray.

Now KPJ has been lighting it up in Houston pretty routinely, even before the 50 piece, but I think this is another thing we forget is kind of common. There are a lot of guys in the NBA who can step into the volume scorer on a bad team role. Tony Wroten's stats in Phili (2015) look pretty identical to what KPJ is doing in Houston. Flip Murray used to have stretches like this when a bad team was desperate for a guy to dribble and take shots.

I don't want to be pessimistic, I just don't get excited anymore when a trigger happy guard gets a chance on a bad team. Maybe KPJ becomes and rotation player, but this kind of performance doesn't guarantee that at all.

Wesley had the shortest career of those scorers, and he played five years in the NBA, over ten including international competition. So while he may never get to "All-Star" level or the height that has been mentioned in this thread, longevity in the NBA is on his side.

Tony Wroten is actually a great comparison for him. We'll see if he pieces it together or if he goes the way of Wroten's career. Signs point for a longer career in the NBA for KPJ.

That’s interesting. I would put his potential and trajectory ahead of Wroten, but I can see the comparison too. Waiters is another player in this mold although he seemed to get a bunch more chances to succeed.

his career trajectory is a good starter to all star based on skill talent work ethic and all that. the reason why he fell in the draft, the reason he was let go by his previous team, and the reason all 30 teams werent jumping out they seats to sign him is that he has real issues that are going to hold back his success in the nba if they arent addressed. This performance came on he heels of him going out to a strip club until 7am and his teammate with no history of misconduct getting his face punched in during an altercation in which we dont truly know the details of. If that's how hes behaving now, whos to say it doesnt get worse when he becomes a celebrity making 20 million a year?

I love his game, I've watched him since hs. I just have, since he was 16, worried about the person.

[itrsteve]

So let me get it straight...

Milwaukee drafted KPJ with the 30th pick in 2019 and they traded him to Cleveland along with Tony Snell for.....John Leuer?
And tonight KPJ dropped 50 on them.

...in the same game Christian Wood dropped 31 on them....the same Wood who was cut by them at the winter of 2018 to make room for....Pau Gasol?

...in the same game that DJ Wilson dropped 15/12 on them....the same Wilson who they drafted in 2017 instead of....John Collins?

...in the same game that donte Divincenzo dropped...3 points? The same Divincenzo whom they drafted in 2018, right before Kevin Huerter who dropped 20 on them 3 nights ago?


...and i thought that Brogdon was their big mistake....you can't make this **** up

Worst FO of a contending team by far.
These moves deserve a separate thread

This is next level Rainmain sh*t.

I didn't know anybody kept tabs on FO mistakes this deep unless it was from Ainge.

[The_Hater]

Wesley had the shortest career of those scorers, and he played five years in the NBA, over ten including international competition. So while he may never get to "All-Star" level or the height that has been mentioned in this thread, longevity in the NBA is on his side.

Tony Wroten is actually a great comparison for him. We'll see if he pieces it together or if he goes the way of Wroten's career. Signs point for a longer career in the NBA for KPJ.

That’s interesting. I would put his potential and trajectory ahead of Wroten, but I can see the comparison too. Waiters is another player in this mold although he seemed to get a bunch more chances to succeed.

his career trajectory is a good starter to all star based on skill talent work ethic and all that. the reason why he fell in the draft, the reason he was let go by his previous team, and the reason all 30 teams werent jumping out they seats to sign him is that he has real issues that are going to hold back his success in the nba if they arent addressed. This performance came on he heels of him going out to a strip club until 7am and his teammate with no history of misconduct getting his face punched in during an altercation in which we dont truly know the details of. If that's how hes behaving now, whos to say it doesnt get worse when he becomes a celebrity making 20 million a year?

I love his game, I've watched him since hs. I just have, since he was 16, worried about the person.

I agree, but Waiters as a skilled, high lottery pick had all star potential too. The reason I compared them was attitude and the fact that Waiters bball IQ never came close to matching his skill set, so he fell woefully short. I would like to think that Porter will end up being a smarter player and fix his attitude and off court decision making as he matures but he wouldn’t be the first player to that left us always wanting more

[Shock Defeat]

So many people trying to hate on a 20 year old who just dropped a historic game against a contender. Plus he was guarded by an elite defender in Jrue Holiday and still lit him up. Even Luka has never dropped 50 points in a game before and he's 2 years older.

[CptCrunch]

His game resembles a future star player. He didn’t just get hot and shoot spot up threes to the 50, he has lead scoring abilities

At minimum a future starter. Random players don't get hot and drop a 50/10 in the NBA at age 20.