The Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers have been doing well in the past year. One of them is slowly ascending to shatter the dreams of a LeBron James and Stephen Curry matchup in the NBA play-ins while the other comfortably sits third in the Eastern Conference standings. However, one player who got to see the rise of these squads never got to experience their peaks. He goes by the name of Kevin Porter Jr and he is now set to join the Greek Basket League.
A lot was on Kevin Porter Jr.'s plate last season. He had to deal with issues in his efficiency on the floor while also facing assault charges from his girlfriend. Since then, the Rockets sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. General manager Sam Presti did not know what to do with him which prompted the team to eventually just waive him down the line. All hopes of coming back to play professional basketball seemed to have been thrown out the window. Good news then struck Kevin Porter Jr.
The former Rockets and Cavaliers guard is now headed to the Greek Basket League. He will join PAOK for the rest of their 2023-24 campaign, per Shams Charania and Kelly Ilko of The Athletic. Porter will play for the ninth-ranked squad in the league. They only have eight wins so far and hope to get on a roll such that they can usurp big teams like Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in the standings.
What lies ahead for the former Rockets, Cavaliers player
He will now join a plethora of NBA players who have made their way into the Greek Basket League to play. The list includes Kendrick Nunn, Jerian Grant, Marco Belineli, Isaiah Canaan, and Moses Wright among others. All of which are also trying to make their way back into the league. Hope is not at all lost for all these players. Dante Exum was just getting bodyslammed last season in Europe and has made his NBA comeback. This means that Porter Jr. still has a chance to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot in the association.
After all, he does have the skills and just needs to polish up on some parts of his game. In his last season, he started in 59 games for the Rockets. Porter Jr. was able to knock down 44.2% of his shots from all three levels of scoring for an average of 19.2 points. His outside stroke could be better as he just shoots it at a 36.6% clip. Moreover, averaging 3.2 turnovers on a nightly basis might also hold him back.
But, all of these can be fixed with the proper time and coaching. He is still an NBA-caliber talent and has proven a lot of things in the league already. It might not take long until he proves that he has changed both on and off the court.
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