NBA Draft: Luka Doncic rises to first in 2018 NBA Redraft

The player who fell in the lottery in 2018 was Michael Porter Jr., a combo forward out of Missouri who was at one time the top player in his class but fell due to injury concerns. In the lead-up to the draft, everyone wanted to talk not only about Porter’s injury history, but the injury-laden rap sheets for his brother and two sisters, all athletes. He dropped to 14th, where the Denver Nuggets took the shot on him.

The 6’10” forward took his first season off rehabbing from a back injury, and then the Nuggets eased him in as a redshirt rookie. By the time the NBA Bubble came around, he was starting to show some real offensive pop. Even so, few were expecting him to take another leap forward in his second year, pouring in 19 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 44.5 percent from 3-point range. His effective field goal percentage, which gives more value to 3-pointers than to 2’s, was 64.6 percent, which ranked fourth in the entire NBA.

Porter is a gunner from outside with the size to finish inside. He’s not the best defender but he has grown into a competent one. His offensive skillset means the Nuggets can slide him up to small forward in larger lineups, or put him at power forward and not lose any size. He has also been incredibly healthy, last year not missing a single game due to injury (he missed 10 games in COVID protocols and one for rest).

The Memphis Grizzlies originally took Jaren Jackson Jr., and in our redraft, they don’t lose any of that offensive juice or floor-spacing from the 4. Porter is not as natural of a fit sliding to center, but Jackson hasn’t proven he can do that reliably yet either. In Memphis Porter becomes the offensive building block for the team to move forward with.