Michael Porter Jr. declared himself as the best player in this year's NBA Draft and the L.A. Clippers seem to have listened, now reportedly open to move up in the draft to get him.
“The Clippers are open to moving up in the draft, according to multiple league executives,” wrote Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer. “They’re armed with picks Nos. 12 and 13, and have the assets to get creative. A front office exec said that Michael Porter Jr. is a possible target for the Clippers, who could slide the forward into their modernized system as a go-to scorer.”
Owner Steve Ballmer, one of the only two owners at the NBA Draft Combine last week, offered his short bit of praise for the Nathan Hale High School (Seattle) product a year ago.
“About my only real contribution [to the draft] is to say, ‘Hey, I saw some high school kid in Seattle and he looked really good.’ And it turns out it’s probably a kid who will be the no. 1 or no. 2 pick,” Ballmer said on The Bill Simmons Podcast in March 2017. “[Porter] plays in the same league as my son, so I have watched him play a few times. … And they say, ‘Thank you very much for your scouting. Go back to that mathy stuff.’”
Porter was highly-touted as the one player that could give European prospect Luka Doncic a run for his money after an unrivaled high school season.
Having committed to Missouri and suffered an injury that kept him out for part of the season, his stock dropped due to the lack of a sample size and questions about his durability — but make no mistake, the talent it still there and the Clippers haven't lost sight of that.
Porter is currently slated to go seventh overall in the draft, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony in his latest mock draft.