2019 Draft, Pick #30 - Kevin Porter Jr., USC

[CavsFanJapan]

Royce White part two

 

[AussieCavFan]

He probably goes to Houston, plays some minutes and looks like he did last year which will be tough to watch. But inevitably in the long run it will likely be a rollercoaster career.

Even if he sticks to a roster and becomes a nice piece, he burnt his bridge and that could never be the case here anymore.

 

[FrontPageNews]

From untradeable to a future 2nd..,

 

[AllforOne]

Kevin Porter Jr. trade a painful setback in Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebuild: Chris Fedor

Teammates considered him the most talented of the young core, the player with the likeliest path to stardom. Members of the front office viewed him as untouchable when rival teams reached out in trade talks.

www.cleveland.com

This is Fedor's occasional "see guys, I'm not the Cavs' mouthpiece! I can criticize them!" article. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, he does so by creating criticisms that simply aren't valid.

KPJ's trade a "painful setback"? Child, please. KPJ was always a lottery ticket -- a chance at grabbing a top talent outside of the top of the draft. It was a risk. Everybody knew that at the time. Sometime, risks don't work out. That's why they're called risks, Chris.

"Collin Sexton displaces Porter as the cornerstone"? WITAF? The mercurial #30 pick who averaged 10 PPG in one injury-riddled season was the cornerstone over the #8 pick who averaged over 20 PPG last year? Talk about creating a straw man. The only way Porter ranked ahead of Sexton was alphabetically.

"Training Day" Denzel was wrong. The newspaper is neither 90% bullshit (that number is too low), nor is it entertaining. At least, not articles like this one.

 

[avs2000]

Kevin Porter Jr. trade a painful setback in Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebuild: Chris Fedor

Teammates considered him the most talented of the young core, the player with the likeliest path to stardom. Members of the front office viewed him as untouchable when rival teams reached out in trade talks.

www.cleveland.com

This is Fedor's occasional "see guys, I'm not the Cavs' mouthpiece! I can criticize them!" article. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, he does so by creating criticisms that simply aren't valid.

KPJ's trade a "painful setback"? Child, please. KPJ was always a lottery ticket -- a chance at grabbing a top talent outside of the top of the draft. It was a risk. Everybody knew that at the time. Sometime, risks don't work out. That's why they're called risks, Chris.

"Collin Sexton displaces Porter as the cornerstone"? WITAF? The mercurial #30 pick who averaged 10 PPG in one injury-riddled season was the cornerstone over the #8 pick who averaged over 20 PPG last year? Talk about creating a straw man. The only way Porter ranked ahead of Sexton was alphabetically.

"Training Day" Denzel was wrong. The newspaper is neither 90% bullshit (that number is too low), nor is it entertaining. At least, not articles like this one.

Bullshit article. Kobe does not look bad. It
He knew the risk he was taking. A focused. Porter would have been a great addition. He wasn’t. Is what it is

 

[avs2000]

It really limits the ceiling of this team. He was lotto talent and we got him at the 30th pick. We are now overachieving and the timeline might get screwed up. We might get stuck with not enough talent to truly compete. We might be a playoff team but max out with second round exits year after years.

Right. Not even watching anymore.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Right. Not even watching anymore.

Lmao what?
Porter has shown some flashes. But he has a long time to go before even being a postive impact player in the league. The Cavs have a great young core, one guy who's already taking the leap to stardom(Sexton), one guy who has looked like he's taking a huge leap in year 2(Garland), and an athletic rookie wing who's going to be a great defender and has already shown good flashes offensively. We have all of our firsts going forward and Koby has the green light to continue to add assets.

Even in college...flashes of talent....but overall poor results.

He has to completely transform his life first before he even can start to properly reach his potential. It wasn't going to happen here. But this team is fun and enjoyable and not wanting to watch because KPJ isn't here anymore just tells me you weren't much of a fan to begin with.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I hope nothing but the best for him. I hope he gets all the help he can get...


And I don't understand, why people calling him names. It didn't workout with the Cavs move on. People act like, he did something directly to them.

So treating other people like shit says less about someone's character than if they treat you like shit?

What he said in that video to that guy making $15/hour as a security guard was disgraceful. Nasty, bullying, threatening, entitled...punk pretty much covers it to me.

And that's not even taking into account his behavior in the locker room towards the GM and fellow players. Wrecking their post-game meal, trashing stuff that more "ordinary" people with have to clean up....

Addition by subtraction at this point.

 

[BigZ94]

Fell like this is the kind of situation where in a couple years we’re gonna see a mugshot of him on the news.

 

[Derek]

Kevin Porter Jr. trade a painful setback in Cleveland Cavaliers’ rebuild: Chris Fedor

Teammates considered him the most talented of the young core, the player with the likeliest path to stardom. Members of the front office viewed him as untouchable when rival teams reached out in trade talks.

www.cleveland.com

This is Fedor's occasional "see guys, I'm not the Cavs' mouthpiece! I can criticize them!" article. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, he does so by creating criticisms that simply aren't valid.

KPJ's trade a "painful setback"? Child, please. KPJ was always a lottery ticket -- a chance at grabbing a top talent outside of the top of the draft. It was a risk. Everybody knew that at the time. Sometime, risks don't work out. That's why they're called risks, Chris.

"Collin Sexton displaces Porter as the cornerstone"? WITAF? The mercurial #30 pick who averaged 10 PPG in one injury-riddled season was the cornerstone over the #8 pick who averaged over 20 PPG last year? Talk about creating a straw man. The only way Porter ranked ahead of Sexton was alphabetically.

"Training Day" Denzel was wrong. The newspaper is neither 90% bullshit (that number is too low), nor is it entertaining. At least, not articles like this one.

A lot of people (including Fedor it seems) got too caught up in Porter's flashes last season and dismissed all concerns about his previous issues.

Even before his problems resurfaced, we should have recognized that he was still a lotto ticket.

Right. Not even watching anymore.

Are you saying this in jest? I'm telling you all now, give up on the idea of the Cavs ever being a title contender again, and just enjoy some well-played basketball.

Without LeBron, the Cavs haven't won more than 33 games since the 1997-98 season, and they haven't been to the second round of the playoffs since 1993. Heck, the Cavs have only made it out of the first round 3x in franchise history when their best player isn't named LeBron.

If we get a couple years of winning basketball out of this core, I'll be ecstatic (and I felt the same way before KPJ's incident).

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

The 30th pick not working out is not a "painful setback" We traded 2 mediocre 2nds, one basically useless 2nd, and one totally useless 2nd for him and got one pretty much useless 2nd back. It was a smart gamble, it simply didn't pay off. But the cost was low, the setback is minor, and if anything it brings our talented young core closer and shows they can trust the FO/coaching staff to do the right thing and put culture and character first.

It seems like there's a few of these types of guys available in the late first/early 2nd round every year. The Cavs can take more swings like that going forward if they want.

But to put a lower ceiling on the Cavs..simply because KPJ is gone... just doesn't make any sense.

Sexton is 22..a budding young star guard..elite scorer and competitor. Team player. Hard worker. Smart.

Garland is 20. Still a long way to go physcially, but already this year has shown huge flashes of potentially already taking a leap. He's been dominant in practice at times and is an extremely skilled and impressive young guard who is perfect for this NBA. Team player. Hard worker. Smart.

Okoro is 19. Already showing signs of being an elite defender, can hit corner threes, great in transition, good passer. Team player. hard worker. Smart.

Jarrett Allen is 22. A true defensive anchor at the 5. Great rebounder, blocks shots. Extremely efficient, Finishes well around the rim, good hands, good FT shooter.

Taurean Prince is only 26 even, has good size, and is a great fit as a 3 and D forward on a reasonable contract, IMO.

Nance Jr is only 28, but is a perfect vet for this team. His Cleveland ties, he's been an elite defender, especially as a team defender...just a great fit, smart guy, positive influence, etc.

Cedi is only 25. is proving to be a legitimate rotation player on a decent contract.


McGee, Drummond, Love are all solid vets that are good pieces to put around young guys...and I anticipate getting assets in return eventually for at least 2 of the three(McGee now, maybe Love next year).

Cavs will have probably another late lottery pick/mid first. Depending on health, future moves, etc.

Cavs are in a great position going forward to build a consistently competitive team. The best strategy is to build a continuous young core, and once you hit on at least a star or two, if you keep your assets open and your powder dry...even small market teams like us could have an opportunity to make a Toronto-esque Kawhi trade to make a title run....

I really truly believe we have two stud guards, both future all-stars. Sexton right now in particular is already pushing into stardom.

Sky is the limit for this organization with what we're currently building.

 

[Triplethreat]

I simply don't agree with what people are saying here.

Of all the players on the Cavaliers roster outside of Sexton, it was pretty clear to me that KPJ was most likely to ascend into the superstar our team still very clearly lacks. It's a MASSIVE setback to lose a talent like that. I don't give a fuck where he was drafted. I personally saw him as a top 5 pick leading up to the draft, so where he was drafted should never factor into whether or not it sets us back. Getting him late in the draft only accelerated our timeline, now it certainly has been set back.

Some people are watching through wine and gold colored glasses, that much is very clear.

 

[2 For The Brew]

Cbssports.com called this an “utter disaster” for the Cavaliers as they gave up four second round picks and only got one back, plus gave up $5 million.

Picking Darko #2 is an utter disaster. Losing a few second round picks isn’t that bid a deal. Dan losing $5 million doesn’t mean he’ll have to find cheaper housing in Elyria.

If the Cavaliers somehow get Wiggins back I’ll be aboard the utter disaster train but the KPJ matter is about as big a problem as drafting Christian Eyenga. Very late first that didn’t pan out - there’s a shock.

 

[2 For The Brew]

I simply don't agree with what people are saying here.

Of all the players on the Cavaliers roster outside of Sexton, it was pretty clear to me that KPJ was most likely to ascend into the superstar our team still very clearly lacks. It's a MASSIVE setback to lose a talent like that. I don't give a fuck where he was drafted. I personally saw him as a top 5 pick leading up to the draft, so where he was drafted should never factor into whether or not it sets us back. Getting him late in the draft only accelerated our timeline, now it certainly has been set back.

Some people are watching through wine and gold colored glasses, that much is very clear.

Houston got him for a second that likely won’t convey. That means nobody else in the NBA wanted him, because that’s an easy deal to beat.

KPJ pissed away his talent, not the Cavaliers. Objectively he wasn‘t a top 5 pick as he fell to the bottom of the round.

 

[ShawnKempIsMyDad]

I simply don't agree with what people are saying here.

Of all the players on the Cavaliers roster outside of Sexton, it was pretty clear to me that KPJ was most likely to ascend into the superstar our team still very clearly lacks. It's a MASSIVE setback to lose a talent like that. I don't give a fuck where he was drafted. I personally saw him as a top 5 pick leading up to the draft, so where he was drafted should never factor into whether or not it sets us back. Getting him late in the draft only accelerated our timeline, now it certainly has been set back.

Some people are watching through wine and gold colored glasses, that much is very clear.

Based on his behavior with the team and as an adult in society, he's never going to ascend to superstar talent with ANY team. Give me one example where someone who is this much of a headcase has ascended to superstar talent level.

It doesn't happen because achieving such levels of skill and recognition takes time, maturity, discipline, and focus. He doesn't possess any of these traits, and is sabotaging his own life.

At this rate he may not even ever play for the Rockets.