Kristaps Porzingis?
Kristaps Porzingis: Who the Heck is that?
Kristaps Porzingis is who? He is a 19 year-old Latvian prospect. His combination of size, shooting ability and athletic ability is something that the modern NBA craves. Porzingis has the potential to be a special player but might get tripped up again by seven-footers of old.
Dirk Nowitzki was a German star who took the NBA to a new height in 1999. Since then, the league has been obsessed in trying to find the next big international star. However, there have been other men with Nowitzki’s talent who haven’t been able reach the same level. A lotery mistake can cost you years of franchises in an era where value management and cap management are so crucial.
The thing that made Nowitzki unique was the way he combined the shooting, ball-handling, and quickness of guards with the size of a man. He had open eyes and was capable creating offense on any possession. Dirk was a mismatch in his prime. No one his size could match Dirk’s quickness and no one else was small enough to challenge his jumper. Many international prospects with similar skill set have been selected in the draft over the years with hopes of replicating his offensive genius. But none of them succeeded because they couldn’t shoot good enough to compensate for their poor defense.
Porzingis might break the mold.
His Spanish ACB team initially used him as an offball player. This was sensible considering the huge age gap between him, the competition, and he's now able to make his own shots. Porzingis has the potential to combine his shooting skills with enough length and athleticism in order to be a two-way player. He is the rare stretch 4 who can block shots and play above the basket. He should have a higher floor than Bargnani or Yi because of these qualities.
Porzingis will not need to be a Dirk-level offensive play to make an NBA team. Here are the stats on Porzingis' block rate and three point percentage compared to other starting PFs within the NBA. Professional Gambling - What the Heck's a "Medium"?
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