The 2019 NBA Draft will be a great event for teams to start building for their future. The Game Haus will be doing scouting reports on some of the top prospects in the 2019 NBA Draft. USC guard Kevin Porter Jr. spent one season with the Trojans and is now headed to the NBA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpt1R2EKU8c

Background

Position: Guard

Class: Freshman

2018-2019 stats: 9.5 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game, 0.8 steals per game, 0.5 blocks per game, 47.1% field goal, 41.2% 3 point

Size: 6-foot-6, 218 pounds

Porter was a five-star recruit heading into college and decided to play his one season of college basketball at USC. Even though the season did not go as planned for Porter, he decided to enter his name into the 2019 NBA Draft.

He played in 21 games and started four for USC this season, as he missed time due to injuries and personal conduct issues. Even so, he was able to be a key contributor off the bench, demonstrating good shooting and athleticism. No one was able to see how good Porter really could be due to his limited time, but he played well when he was on the court.

Porter will not be the most experienced player in the draft class, but he does have physical traits that are desirable in a prospect. He is currently projected to be selected in the middle of the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.

Strengths

His athleticism isn’t among the elite in the draft class, like Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, but he isn’t too far off. He should be dangerous in transition and can use his athleticism to get to the basket in half-court sets. If he can use his athleticism defensively, Porter could become a good defensive NBA player as well.

Even though he came off the bench, Porter demonstrated a good 3-point shot. He hit 41.2 percent of his 3-point shots last season and hit 1.3 per game. Porter will have to prove he can hit a greater volume of shots in the NBA, but he has a decent sample size to prove he should be able to stretch defenses in the NBA.

Porter plays hard and does some of the little things to help a team win. He rebounded fairly well with 4.0 per game. Porter also can force turnovers on the defensive end. If Porter is going to be a successful pro player, he needs to play with that same aggressiveness in doing the small things.

Weaknesses

His lack of experience is an issue, but so are the circumstances around it. He missed time for injury, but he also missed time for personal conduct reasons. This will be a red flag that every NBA team will have to look into before the draft. If he couldn’t stay on the floor in college, teams will need to figure out if that will be an issue at the next level.

Porter has to improve his decision-making on the court. He had more turnovers than assists, which is not good considering he’s a guard. If he can hit the open man and not turnover the ball, he will be a much better player. Porter also needs the improved decision making in his shot selection. He was a good scorer, but still shot below 50 percent from the field, which could have been corrected from a little better selection on his shots.

For a player who is so athletic and should be able to get to the basket, Porter needs to hit a higher percentage of his free throws. He hit 52 percent of his free throws at USC last season. His 3-point shooting is polished, so there is no excuse for his free throw percentage to be that low.

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