Rookie point guard Craig Porter Jr. was viewed by many as a second-round pick. Instead, he was a zero-round pick.
Hailing from Wichita State, Porter is 6-foot-2 and received plenty of calls and workouts leading up to the 2023 NBA Draft. Then no one called.
That is until the Cavs decided to take a flyer right after the draft. They wanted Porter to join for summer league, play for the Cleveland Charge, and show the parent club what he’s got.
Based on Thursday’s 87-83 win over the Bulls at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Porter has got at least a little something. And maybe even a lot.
Porter actually scored more than anyone in the entire summer league who played Thursday, finishing with 22 points as the Cavs improved to 4-0 and advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.
They came from behind to beat the Bulls, and had to do it without guard Sam Merrill, who is leading Cleveland with an average of 18.6 points. Merrill was out with a minor quad injury and point guard Sharife Cooper was pulled early with a groin injury.
So the rest was up to Porter when it came to backcourt scoring. He delivered.
The Cavs actually signed Porter to a two-way contract right after the draft. By rule, he can appear in up to 50 games with the Cavs before the team would be required to give him a standard deal.
He doesn’t seem too worried about it. He seems to be living in the moment.
“Everybody’s dream is to come in and play right away. But I know it’s going to take time to get there, especially being undrafted,” Porter recently told reporters. “Sitting down with Cleveland’s coaches and scouts, they had a plan for me — even if it’s not what I wanted right away. This is the best thing for my career.”
He played high school ball at Terre Haute South Vigo in Indiana, where basketball is king. He was lightly recruited out of high school, so he chose the junior college route by playing at Vincennes University.
He spent two years there, joined Wichita State, entered the transfer portal twice, and ended up staying anyway. In 31 games last season, he averaged 13.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists, shooting 48 percent from the field. Yes, Porter is considered a pretty good rebounder for a point guard.
Against the Bulls, he went 9-of-15 from the field, with eight boards — as well as a game-high six assists and three steals.
Right now, he looks like he can be a major contributor for the Charge. And maybe in a year or two, for the Cavs.
At the very least, Porter’s latest summer league showing gave us a pretty good idea why the Cavs were intrigued in the first place. The rest will be up to him from here.
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