Thread by @RedTeamScouting

The countdown to the NBA Draft rolls on. Only 23 days away! Today, we are breaking down Missouri big man, Jontay Porter.

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Porter was in vogue last season. A heady big man with great passing vision, fantastic defensive rotations, & the ability to the stretch the D gives him the tools to succeed. But how much has his stock suffered on the back of successive ACL injuries?

Offense-

Porter has a jack-of-all-trades skill set. He shot 36.4 percent from three and excelled above the break, both as a trail man and as a spot up shooter on kick outs.

He has the ability to be a pick-and-pop threat early in his career and can even leverage the space he creates into opportunities for teammates.

He is also a quality passer, both within the system and as a secondary creator. He is able to pass teammates open and can generally see the logical openings in the defense before they open. He can facilitate from the high post and racks up hockey assists by moving the ball well.

Probably his most underrated skill is his IQ as a relocator. He is an instinctual cutter who knows where and when spots come open on the floor and moves well to provide teammates with better passing angles while driving.

His lack of elite athleticism causes problems when he tries to finish around the rim. Longer or more bouncy big men can give him trouble around the rim and he has trouble dictating his will as a scorer on the interior as a result.

He is a solid rebounder, though he relies predominantly on good positioning and length instead of athleticism.

Defense-

Porter is one of the best team defenders in the 2019 class. At Mizzou, he anchored the defense and communicated switches and actions well from the back line. He is able to assess where he needs to be and makes his rotations in a timely manner.

He has active hands and can block a surprising amount of shots using his wingspan. He is also good at denying the ball one pass away and uses his active hands to limit passing lanes for his man.

He doesn’t have elite pop but he is able to use his length to alter shots without fouling, an underrated skill. His ability to rotate and challenge shots will afford teammates some freedom to search for turnovers.

Fair questions about his switchability can be asked because he does not have the lateral or hip speed needed to be a versatile on-ball defender. He got blown by on several big-to-guard off-ball switches, but he managed to challenge three-pointers after down-screens.

He is extremely intelligent diagnosing his strengths and weaknesses in switch opportunities, but even with great instincts and positioning he will have difficulty staying in front of ball handlers.

Getting Minutes-

Porter has one of the highest BBIQs in the 2019 class and uses it to his advantage on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, he makes excellent assessments of where he has an edge and puts himself in situations to succeed based on his leverage. He shows the ability to screen and then brush out to the perimeter, giving drivers a wide berth.

Having bigs who can threaten opposing defense from along the perimeter is in vogue in the NBA, and Jontay is a great spot-up shooter who can also take his man off the dribble if he closes out too hard.

He also brings a secondary creation wrinkle to the table which can give teams new avenues of attack. He can run the offense from the top of the key and is also capable of facilitating for teammates from the elbow.

On defense, he will stay on the floor because he is a fantastic backline communicator who can direct traffic. Rookies take time adjusting to a new scheme, but he has displayed mental acuity and flexibility which makes us believe he is capable of making the transition early

He will also be a deterrent around the rim who can challenge and alter shots without fouling, an often-underrated defensive skill.

Riding the Pine-

The largest limiting factor to Porter’s PT will be his lack of high-level athleticism. While he has the IQ and tools to overcome a lack of explosiveness as a runner and leaper, he will find himself in situations against certain players where he is overmatched.

He hasn’t been an elite finisher in the paint and will need to add to his repertoire to hurt teams as a roller or penetrator against NBA defenses, which may limit his early offensive contributions to his solid PnP game & his ability to pass within a system and create for others.

He also lacks a true position on the defensive end. Against athletic teams, he will struggle to be a full-time rim protector and his lack of quickness compared to NBA guards may find him on the wrong end of some switches.

He has been successful at the NCAA level because he is either bigger or quicker than whoever guards him, but the same will not be true in the NBA. What he can contribute defensively will vary wildly from night to night, depending on match ups.

But his ACL injury cost him his sophomore season and a second might have cost him a spot in the lottery. The situation with his brother, Michael, is well known and his family has a history of damaging lower body injuries, potentially steering more health-conscious franchises awa

Good Fits-

Because of his injury, Porter has a massive ranges of outcomes, from the mid-first all the way to the mid-second. With such a wide array out landing spots, pinpointing exactly where in the draft a team is willing to take a shot on Porter is a difficult task.

Teams looking for an above-the-break shooter who can be a great secondary ball mover, teams like Milwaukee (#30) or Philadelphia (#24, 33, 34, 42), could make use of his skill set.

But he also has the chops to excel in an advantage system (San Antonio @ #18, Utah @ #23, Golden State @ #28, or Atlanta @ 35, 41) as a short roll facilitator.