NBA: The Strengths and Weaknesses of prospect Kevin Porter Jr

NCAA collegiate basketball players have limited time every season to impress NBA scouts, if they're planning to declare themselves for the summer's Draft. Many of these highly-touted teenagers or young men have one collegiate season to make an impression, leaving a positive vision on what they can potentially become in future.

Kevin Porter Jr, like Jontay Porter, is being denied that opportunity through injury. Already shackled by a head coach regularly bringing him off the bench for the USC Trojans, has been sidelined with a thigh contusion suffered during a collision with a Missouri St. opponent back in November last year.

The injury was only supposed to take two weeks to heal. He even tried to play in a game back on December 1, against the University of Nevada to overcome his setback - which lasted just four minutes. He has accumulated five successive DNP's and has featured in just six matches for the Trojans thus far this season.

June 2019 is still six months away but collegiate players get a maximum of 40 games - including March Madness - to impress and entice an NBA franchise enough to add them to their roster. The USC Trojans are 7-6 this season, Porter is considered a top-10 pick for this summer's draft class and at 6'6, 220lbs, Porter is a prototypical player for this era of NBA basketball.

Nevada's head coach Eric Musselman had the following to say:

"Porter can score it, he can take it to the cup, make step-back threes. He makes shots that are kind of unguardable. Even when you do a picture-perfect job defensively, he still ends up making really tough shots, which is what great players do."

"Having said that, we played against [Markelle] Fultz and he was the number one pick in the draft. We have to come up with a scheme when you're at least in striking distance and a great player doesn't dominate and takeover a game."

Kevin Porter's Strengths

KPJ has a high ceiling

As previously mentioned, Kevin Porter Jr is 6'6 and 220lbs. With good length and size, he's able to run the floor well and will fill lanes on the fastbreak too. He can finish above the rim, is very athletic and his ball-handling skills are excellent too. Being able to dribble confidently with either hand is an under-rated capability, so it's good to see he can utilize this strength to good use: creating space for pull-up and step-back jumpers.

Porter Jr. also uses the dribble well on drive and draw plays, opening up good scoring opportunities for his teammates. His passing is solid and he does share the ball offensively, while capable of finishing plays through contact.

In addition, he's a good shooter. For the season, his field goal percentage is 53.8% and he does shoot 35% from the three-point arc. At the defensive end of the floor, he's quick enough laterally and can defend on the perimeter. He closes out nicely on open shooters and has quick hands which disrupt clear passing lanes, averaging .8 blocks and one steal per game.

Kevin Porter Jr's Weaknesses

Kevin Porter Jr. in action against Vanderbilt earlier this season

Kevin Porter Jr. has only played in six games so far this season and averages 21.8 minutes per game. NBA teams will be concerned about not only his health, but equally stamina and endurance too if he does decide to declare for the Draft.

Although he has good speed and quickness, he appears to be on cruise control at times and doesn't always provide maximum effort on every play. For a player as athletic as him, his rebounding numbers are low at an average of 3.3 per game.

Porter Jr. also needs to work on his assist-to-turnover ratio, which is essentially 1:1 at 1.7 assists and 1.3 turnovers per game. His free throw shooting is slightly above 50% at 53.8%, which needs to be improved upon.

In a recent update to their mock draft standings for the 2019 NBA Draft, nbadraft.net lists Kevin Porter Jr. as the potential 6th selection in June. It's a high rating and consideration for a talent who has played just 131 meaningful minutes of basketball all season long. He has played four since December 1.

There's no doubt he can play when healthy, but the length of his setback and actual recovery is a worrying sign. Jontay Porter - who tore his ACL - as well as Kevin, may need to consider returning back to college for another amateur year in 2019, instead declaring themselves for 2020.

It's not just their draft stock that will drop, their potential salary contracts could also fall. Which team would he fit in with their depth chart? Perhaps he'd be better placed for a full season's work under his belt, leaving GM's no further doubt next year instead.