HOUSTON – The Houston Rockets today announced they have exercised the fourth-year contract option on guard Kevin Porter Jr. for the 2022-23 NBA season.
Porter was originally the 30th overall pick by Cleveland in the 2019 NBA Draft before being acquired via trade by Houston on Jan. 22, 2021. He has appeared in 31 games with 28 starts as a Rocket while averaging 15.9 points, 6.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.0 3-pointers made. Since the start of last season, he is one of 12 players averaging at least 15.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.0 rpg, and 2.0 3FGM. Porter is also the youngest of those 11 players at 21 years old.
Last season, Porter joined Ja Morant as the only sophomores to have averaged at least 16.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, and 3.0 rpg. He had 50 points and 11 assists against the eventual NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks on Apr. 29, becoming the fifth-youngest player in NBA history to have scored 50-plus points in a game and the youngest to have done so while recording 10-plus assists.
As a rookie with the Cavaliers in 2019-20, Porter averaged 10.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 2.2 apg in 23.2 mpg. Dating back to 1994-95, Nikola Jokic (2015-16) was the only other rookie to have averaged at least 10.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 2.0 apg in fewer than 25.0 mpg.