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

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If KPJ could shoot it like Doncic I'd be really happy about this pick.

I hope he will shoot better. Doncic was 43% overall, 33% from 3 on a whopping 7 attempts from 3.

Doncic was great, but needs to learn better shot selection like most rookies.
 
I hope he will shoot better. Doncic was 43% overall, 33% from 3 on a whopping 7 attempts from 3.

Doncic was great, but needs to learn better shot selection like most rookies.

Don't really agree...a modest improvement to his percentages on the same shot selection will quickly put him among the best scorers in the NBA. That should be the expectation, given his age, work ethic, and track record. He has the potential to be one of the handful of wings who are actually good enough shooters that you want them shooting stepbacks. I don't think KPJ has that potential...I think he's optimistically an average shooter for his position, and you don't want average shooters taking those shots. Cavs fans should know after living with Clarkson the last couple years.
 
Don't really agree...a modest improvement to his percentages on the same shot selection will quickly put him among the best scorers in the NBA. That should be the expectation, given his age, work ethic, and track record. He has the potential to be one of the handful of wings who are actually good enough shooters that you want them shooting stepbacks. I don't think KPJ has that potential...I think he's optimistically an average shooter for his position, and you don't want average shooters taking those shots. Cavs fans should know after living with Clarkson the last couple years.

I think KPJ is a better shooter from 3 than Doncic. The rest of his game is probably far behind except ball handling, but I think his 3 is real.
 
I think KPJ is a better shooter from 3 than Doncic. The rest of his game is probably far behind except ball handling, but I think his 3 is real.

Doubt there's a single person outside of Cleveland who believes that, but I guess we'll see.
 
I think KPJ is a better shooter from 3 than Doncic. The rest of his game is probably far behind except ball handling, but I think his 3 is real.

I wouldn't say hes far behind scoring wise but he is behind. KPJ is a 3 level scorer he can get to the bucket, hit the mid range shot, and has legit range, but off the ball and as a facilitator hes miles behind Doncic.
 
I wouldn't say hes far behind scoring wise but he is behind. KPJ is a 3 level scorer he can get to the bucket, hit the mid range shot, and has legit range, but off the ball and as a facilitator hes miles behind Doncic.

He is far behind as a scorer and that's just fine to say. Luka is a special talent who had a very nice rookie season; KPJ is a project. He's exciting and there are reasons for optimism, but we should be patient and keep expectations tempered for the 30th pick in the draft who averaged 9 a game for USC.
 
He is far behind as a scorer and that's just fine to say. Luka is a special talent who had a very nice rookie season; KPJ is a project. He's exciting and there are reasons for optimism, but we should be patient and keep expectations tempered for the 30th pick in the draft who averaged 9 a game for USC.

Luka was shockingly inefficient as a scorer as a rookie. But because he's flashy it gets overlooked. He scored 21 PPG and had a fine season but he shot 42 percent from the field and only 32.7 percent from 3. What makes him special is his size and playmaking. He's not an electric scorer yet.
 
Luka was shockingly inefficient as a scorer as a rookie. But because he's flashy it gets overlooked. He scored 21 PPG and had a fine season but he shot 42 percent from the field and only 32.7 percent from 3. What makes him special is his size and playmaking. He's not an electric scorer yet.

21 ppg on 54.5% true shooting as a 19/20 year old rookie. Gosh, what a shockingly bad season he had. Would hate to see KPJ struggle like that.
 
21 ppg on 54.5% true shooting as a 19/20 year old rookie. Gosh, what a shockingly bad season he had. Would hate to see KPJ struggle like that.

I ackownledged he was better then KPJ as a scorer. I never said he was bad. But he was inefficient. 43 from the field and 32 from three is not ideal. He can at least hit his free throws. Something RJ Barrett can't do and certainly something KPJ can't do. But what makes Doncic special and will make him special in the future isnt his scoring but his facilitating.
 
Back when I was a kid getting better at my craft, I was easily able to adjust where I shot the ball from without much issue with accuracy. (we will say age 15) It just took a summer of adjusting it and working with it. I think KPJ will have zero issues with it. We aren't taking a Kidd-Gilcrest sort of hitch either. He shoots pretty well with a consistent motion.

I also agree Cavatt, his step-back is already at a very high level. Love seeing that out of the kid. Crossing my fingers his talent ends up equaling out to what I think it can be. Kid has a lot of tools ripe for use at the NBA level.

If a bunch of fans on a website can immediately see the problem with that release, you know his coaches have seen it too and it would be hard to imagine that they didn't already try to fix it without success. On the positive side, the step back is becoming more popular. https://thelab.bleacherreport.com/evolution-of-the-step-back/ But I don't think anyone uses it as their standard shot from distance.
 
Don't really agree...a modest improvement to his percentages on the same shot selection will quickly put him among the best scorers in the NBA. That should be the expectation, given his age, work ethic, and track record. He has the potential to be one of the handful of wings who are actually good enough shooters that you want them shooting stepbacks. I don't think KPJ has that potential...I think he's optimistically an average shooter for his position, and you don't want average shooters taking those shots. Cavs fans should know after living with Clarkson the last couple years.

Is that good shot selection? 33% on a bunch of step back 3s. Modest improvement?
 
Is that good shot selection? 33% on a bunch of step back 3s. Modest improvement?

My whole point is that it's not good shot selection for (at least) 95% of players. If Doncic doesn't improve at all, then it's not good shot selection for him. But he will probably improve, and he probably will be in that handful of elite volume scorers who can really stretch a defense out by making difficult shots at an efficient clip.

Getting back on topic though, which camp does KPJ fall into? The 95% of players who shouldn't be taking difficult stepbacks, or the 5% of players who should? Realistically, I think the answer is pretty clear.
 
My whole point is that it's not good shot selection for (at least) 95% of players. If Doncic doesn't improve at all, then it's not good shot selection for him. But he will probably improve, and he probably will be in that handful of elite volume scorers who can really stretch a defense out by making difficult shots at an efficient clip.

Getting back on topic though, which camp does KPJ fall into? The 95% of players who shouldn't be taking difficult stepbacks, or the 5% of players who should? Realistically, I think the answer is pretty clear.

I don't think it is as clear as you say. He just turned 19 and he has some tools 19 year old normally don't have. I think his biggest issue is decision making and shot selection. Those are easier to fix than some other things.

His True shooting percentage was .559 in college while his ft% was 52%. That must be pretty rare. By your own logic, if he improves his ft% to just average and cuts out the long 2's he will be an pretty efficient scorer. He took more 3's than free throw attempts, so I have to figure he can improve there.
 
I don't think it is as clear as you say. He just turned 19 and he has some tools 19 year old normally don't have. I think his biggest issue is decision making and shot selection. Those are easier to fix than some other things.

His True shooting percentage was .559 in college while his ft% was 52%. That must be pretty rare. By your own logic, if he improves his ft% to just average and cuts out the long 2's he will be an pretty efficient scorer. He took more 3's than free throw attempts, so I have to figure he can improve there.

The thing is, KPJ wasn't an outlier in terms of volume *or* efficiency last year, and he never has been. He made virtually no impact as a scorer last year even against a fairly weak NCAA schedule. There are dozens of 18/19 year olds and hundreds of players overall who produced at a similar or better level.
 
The thing is, KPJ wasn't an outlier in terms of volume *or* efficiency last year, and he never has been. He made virtually no impact as a scorer last year even against a fairly weak NCAA schedule. There are dozens of 18/19 year olds and hundreds of players overall who produced at a similar or better level.

The Cavs made a big mistake then. There are hundreds of guys better or as good as him, there was no reason to take him.
 

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