The Milwaukee Bucks found success during the 2014-15 season by hanging their hat on their length, effort, and as a result, their defense. They soon realized during their first round playoff matchup against the Chicago Bulls though, that a team can’t make a playoff run on defense alone. Because of this, early draft reports on the Bucks had the team officials saying they are looking to draft a shooter in the first round. More specifics have come out since then on exactly what they meant with those statements.
At the combine, Bobby Portis said Bucks execs told him they want to draft "a shooter who can dominate down low and stretch their offense."
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 6, 2015
That’s a tall order that the Bucks are asking for, but there’s a reason they told Arkansas’ Bobby Portis that and not a lesser prospect. The power forward out of Little Rock has the best chance of anyone in the Bucks’ range to become the special type of player that the team is searching for. Here’s how he grades out in each of those areas specified by Milwaukee.
Shooting
Portis had a terrific season offensively for the Razorbacks in 2014-15, but it wasn’t an anomaly. The 6’11” big man shot similar percentages to his freshman year, only at a higher volume. Here’s a look at his offensive production during his two years in college.
Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CBB: View Original Table
Generated 6/8/2015.
What’s surprising is that Portis only averaged three more minutes per game in his sophomore season, but still greatly increased his role in the offense. Portis attributes this increase in production to his college coach Mike Anderson, who taught him that he needs to bring it every game he plays.
Bobby Portis shot 53.6 percent from the field on 12.9 attempts per game. That’s an incredibly efficient number for a jump shooting forward. He led the SEC in 2-point field goal attempts (436) and 2-point field goal makes (236). A player can’t do that only shooting from the paint.
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Portis also is an adept free throw shooter, shooting 73.7 percent from the line in both of his college seasons. If Coach Kidd thinks he can play minutes at center (and I think he will), the Bucks will have a nice line up to put out there in late game foul situations.
Post Game
If there’s one area that the Bucks will have to compromise on with Portis or any other prospects in their range for that matter, it’s their “dominate down low” requirement. Not many players in this draft or even the NBA have the ability to take over in the post. Jahlil Okafor is as close to that as you’ll get in this draft and only a few players in the current NBA like Al Jefferson and Pau Gasol can really do it. It’s an old school skill that needs the perfect combination of elite footwork and size to be achieved.
That’s not to say NBA players no longer score in the paint though. Most players now use their mobility and length to get easy buckets in the paint. This is the way that Bobby Portis mainly will be able to score in the paint. Despite possessing good size at 6’11” and 246 pounds, he is very mobile for a frontcourt player. He uses this and his 7’2″ wingspan to score buckets inside. There’s a few examples of this in the video below. He gets points inside through slipping on the pick and roll and also his quickness out of his post face up game.
Every team in the league salivates at the thought of having a consistent option to toss the ball to in the post, but there’s some perks to not having this type of guy. Having five mobile players on the floor spaces out the defense and doesn’t clog the lane for penetrating guards. A player like the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo could really benefit from this.
Stretch the Floor
Bobby Portis can definitely stretch the floor from the 4/5 position. His midrange game is legit and he demonstrated in a very small sample size that he has the ability to shoot from the college three. He will be a face up threat in the NBA because of his jumper and abnormally high release point, but will he be able to become a player that teams must run off the 3-point line?
Portis was an impressive 14/30 on 3-pointers during his sophomore year at Arkansas. That’s not an impressive volume obviously, but 46.7 percent is 46.7 percent. Shooting the NBA three is something teams are having Portis do in his pre-draft workouts like in this video.
As you can see, Portis doesn’t seem to have quite figured it out from the new distance he’ll have to shoot from in the NBA. He shows some promise though at the end and the misses aren’t caused by a change in mechanics due to a lack of strength. The 3-point shot might not be something Portis has in his game repertoire at the beginning of his career, but it definitely could become part of his game as his career progresses.
Will Bobby Portis still be on the Board at No. 17?
It’s safe to say that Portis is at the top of the Bucks targets, but the real question is will he still be available when the Bucks are on the clock? Teams with picks earlier than the Bucks like the Celtics, Jazz, and even the Pistons have all brought him in for workouts. His stock seems to be on the rise as teams realize all the things he can bring to a team.
Because of this, there’s a strong chance that he won’t be available with the No. 17 pick. If he’s still undrafted at that point though, I’d be very surprised if Bobby Portis isn’t sporting a brand new Bucks’ uniform come preseason.
Next: Our Latest NBA Mock Draft
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