‘He’s so poised’: Cavs rave about success of undrafted NBA rookie Craig Porter Jr.
Many of the same praises American Athletic Conference basketball coaches had for Craig Porter Jr. last season are being repeated by his NBA coach as the undrafted Wichita State rookie continues to impress.
Porter is quickly becoming a fan favorite on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been decimated by injuries early this season and received an unexpected boost in the play of the 6-foot-1 point guard from Terre Haute, Indiana.
Since being promoted to the starting lineup on Dec. 20, Porter has averaged 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in four starts for Cleveland. He is the only rookie in the NBA averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in starts this season, per Stat Muse.
“Organizing the game, creating for everybody else and then doing all of the little stuff and the dirty stuff that he just has a knack for,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said about Porter. “He just has a way to come up with the ball. Rebounds, deflections and steals and he’s a really good scorer. He can get to the mid-range and make shots over the top of people. He has great touch around the basket.
“He’s just so poised. You never see him get sped up. You never see him be rushed. He just gets to his spot and does his thing.”
That’s a familiar refrain to Shocker fans who are accustomed to seeing Porter do a little bit of everything on the basketball court. After all, Porter’s senior year saw him become the first player in program history to lead the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in a season and also collect just the second triple-double in the last half-century at WSU.
In leading a come-from-behind 113-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Porter flirted with a triple-double with nine points, a career-high 12 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. He is just the fifth NBA rookie in the last 20 years to post a stat line of at least 12 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block.
In the game before that, Porter scored a career-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, eight assists and a steal in a win over the Chicago Bulls.
In the game before that, Porter notched a career-high 11 assists.
“Just his poise out there,” Cavs veteran Jarrett Allen said about Porter. “It seems like nothing bothers him, nothing speeds him up. It feels like he makes the right pass every single time.”
The stats seem to back up Allen’s assessment. Porter is averaging 3.4 assists for the season, which currently ranks third among all rookies in the NBA, while his assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.25 ranks first.
With injuries to star guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, Porter’s emergence has helped lead the Cavs to a 5-1 record in their last six games.
“Just talking to each other and believing in each other and knowing you’re here for a reason,” Porter told Cleveland media about his recent success.
“It’s a time where a team could go down and take losses and hold your head and wait for those star guys to get back. We’ve always stuck together and those star guys are telling us every day to just go out there and play basketball and get these wins. We’ve all got confidence in each other.”
It’s rare for an undrafted rookie to make an impact in the NBA, although another former Shocker proved it’s possible to attain All-Star status without being drafted.
But Porter is even ahead of schedule of where Fred VanVleet was at this stage in his professional career.
Porter is currently signed as a two-way player with the Cavs, which means he has a 50-game limit on active appearances with the NBA club. He is already more than halfway there with 29 active appearances, so when he meets that mark, the Cavs will either have to convert his contract into a fully-guaranteed deal or send him to the G League.
At this point, Porter has become a key player at the NBA level and is even becoming a leader on the team.
“I know I’m an undrafted rookie and it’s early in my career, but I feel like I’ve been challenged to lead a little bit more,” Porter said. “I feel like these guys respect me enough now to be able to listen to some of the things I ask of them and we’ve done a good job and they trust me.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 1:18 PM.
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