Doc Rivers not a fan of Clips passing on MPJ in draft
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers laments how Michael Porter Jr. fell to the Denver Nuggets in the 2018 NBA Draft.
As many may remember, before forward Michael Porter Jr. was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 14th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, he was a highly-touted prospect who was the ranked second in ESPN’s Top 100 high school basketball recruits in 2017.
Due to a back injury that led to him only playing three games for Missouri, Porter went from what was anticipated to be a top-5 pick to sliding down to the end of the lottery. That seems like a steep fall for a player who compared himself to future Hall of Fame forward Kevin Durant prior to the draft but questions about the severity of his injury and how he would fit into an NBA locker room did indeed cause him to slip.
However, after sitting out the 2018-19 season with the Nuggets keeping his longevity and playing future in mind, Porter has broken out with some stellar performances. Averaging 22.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in NBA’s seeding games, he was named to the All-Bubble Second Team along with Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kristaps Porzingis and Caris LeVert.
Even before then though, MPJ had a number of games in which he showed his potential as a scorer and rebounder.
Now, there are some teams who should to be kicking themselves about passing him over in the draft. The Orlando Magic (Mo Bamba), New York Knicks (Kevin Knox), Phoenix Suns (Mikal Bridges) and Charlotte Hornets (Miles Bridges) are just a few of those teams. The Los Angeles Clippers, who selected shooting guard Jerome Robinson with the 13th overall pick, are another.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers acknowledges as much, saying that passing on Porter in the 2018 NBA Draft was “brutal.” Rivers defended their position though, as Porter’s medical history was too daunting for them to be comfortable with the pick at the time.
Rivers calls passing on Michael Porter Jr. a “brutal pass” in the 2018 draft. Says the medicals were just too much of a red flag at the time. Clippers selected BC guard Jerome Robinson with their second first round pick
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) September 2, 2020
Unfortunately for them, during Doc’s tenure with the Clippers, the team has actually has actually missed on a few picks.
In 2013, they selected Reggie Bullock with the 25th overall pick while Rudy Gobert was selected just two picks later (it’s worth noting that Los Angeles already had DeAndre Jordan on the roster though). The next year, they selected shooting guard C.J. Wilcox with the 28th overall pick while Spencer Dinwiddie would be selected ten picks later and Nikola Jokic being selected three picks after that.
Back in 2016, the Clippers selected power forward Brice Johnson with the 25th overall pick while power forward Pascal Siakam would go just two picks later.
It would seem that their draft intel needs just a bit of work.
All that aside, Porter will be looking to have a better series against the Clippers than he had against the Utah Jazz. MPJ’s defense steadily improved throughout the series and he scored key points for the Nuggets while being one of the team’s best rebounders. However, his talent level would lead one to expect more of him, as he attempts to emerge as the team’s third option on offense.
He averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game against the Jazz, shooting 44.9% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range.
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If he can average at least 15.0 points per game against the Clippers in an efficient manner, while continuing to excel on the boards and play solid defense, he’ll be getting even more groans and praise from Doc.