What to look for in Michael Porter Jr.’s NBA Summer League performance

Free throw rate

The most important thing to look at when Porter takes the floor for summer league will be his free throw rate.

Denver finished the 2018-19 regular season ranked 27th in the league in free throw attempt rate, getting to the charity stripe on 23.2 percent of their baskets. For Porter to reach his ceiling with the Nuggets, he will need to be a versatile scorer, not just an effective one.

The last time we saw him at 100 percent he was able to burst off the floor and finish over the top of a defender. Porter was awesome leaping off of one-foot or both. No one is expecting (or rather should be expecting) him to come out dunking on opponents, but being persistent in driving to the basket will be key.

Porter is supremely talented prospect and at 6-foot-10, can shoot over the top of his defender on majority of his possessions. However, that doesn’t mean he should. Porter needs to focus on getting all the way to the basket as a first option. He is a tough player despite a score-first, finesse player image. Porter wasn’t afraid to attack shot-blockers in college despite being less than 100 percent.

Jayson Tatum shot 4.5 free throw attempts per game during the 2017-18 summer league. Tatum hit 85.2 percent of those free throws and that reflected what he did at the high school and college levels. Free throw percentage is a heavy indicator of shooting success long-term, and sure enough Tatum is a career 40 percent 3-point shooter. Porter compares favorably to Tatum and will likely have some of the same weakness. Just like Tatum, Porter should shoot in the high 70s-to-mid-80s on free throws.

Anything lower than 75 percent could indicate that he is (reasonably) out of game shape or having lingering issues. At least a 30 percent free throw rate and a 78 percent free throw percentage would be ideal.