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Kevin Porter Jr., the Cleveland Cavaliers’ wild card, out to prove why he should have been a top 5 pick
Author: Chris Fedor
Publication: Cleveland.com
LAS VEGAS -- It was mid-April last year when members of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office, including general manager Koby Altman and assistant GM Mike Gansey, flew out to the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. Like so many other credentialed scouts, media members and executives, the Cavs were there to check out RJ Barrett, Cameron Reddish, Darius Bazley, Bol Bol and Darius Garland.
But another youngster captured their attention. A player who didn’t even get invited to play for Team USA, so he scrimmaged against them instead. It was Kevin Porter Jr.
“He had like 40. He looked like James Harden. He was cooking dudes. Unguardable 1 on 1. He was doing whatever he wanted against anyone,” one executive in attendance recalled in a recent conversation. “It was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I heard of his name, but I hadn’t really watched him in depth yet. There wasn’t a lot of structure. Kind of like a pickup game, but it was like, ‘Wow!’ You came out of there and you’re like, ‘He has great size, can score it at all three levels, he’s explosive and has an NBA body.’ That got him on the map.”
Porter was on spring break. He went from Seattle to Tacoma to catch a train. Then he took an Amtrak to Portland. In all, it was a journey of almost 200 miles so he could offer a window into his potential at the Trail Blazers training facility.
And make an emphatic statement.
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