The 2021-22 Golden State Warriors season-in-review: Otto Porter Jr.
Otto Porter Jr. reinvents himself as a stretch-4 and occasional small-ball center, OPJ's shooting decline,
Otto Porter Jr.: A-
In the 2013 draft, Otto Porter Jr. went third overall after a promising freshman season at Georgetown. Otto was viewed as a safe bet to have a long NBA career and profiled as a big 3+D wing with a polished game and star potential. For a few years, that star turn seemed likely. In 2017 , an age 23-year-old Porter Jr. signed a max-contract extension with the Washington Wizards after putting up 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.0 stocks a game on 52/43/83 shooting splits .
Two seasons later, however, his body began to give out on him. Let’s turn to The Athletic's Anthony Slater, who got some harrowing quotes from OPJ about his injuries:
The last time Otto Porter Jr. was in a playoff game, his left leg swelled to a frightening degree. He was playing for the Wizards. They were in Toronto. It was Game 5 of a 2-2 first-round series, and he felt a sharp pain. Then it went numb.
“I lost feeling in my left leg,” Porter said. “I literally was playing on one leg.”
[...]
“From here,” Porter said.
He pointed at the upper part of his left shin, directly below the kneecap.
“To here,” Porter finished, tracing his finger down to where his ankle meets his foot.
Compartment syndrome. That’s the common term for the condition. Porter was informed of this later, after he’d already gutted it out for 31 minutes, admitting that he probably did “more harm” playing on it, “but it’s the playoffs, so…”
“It’s trauma that caused massive swelling to the muscle in my leg,” Porter explained. “I guess a lot of football players get it when helmets hit their leg.”
The swelling didn’t subside on the flight back from Toronto to Washington, D.C. It didn’t get any better a day later. The Wizards had a massive Game 6 at home. But they’d be without their starting small forward. Porter was forced into emergency surgery the morning of the game. It’s the only surgery he’s had in his life.
Without it, Porter said, his career would’ve been in jeopardy. But even with it, his game would be impacted in the seasons to come.
“Hell yeah,” Porter said. “I wasn’t as explosive. It was on my left leg, which is my jumping leg. I do a lot on it. Push off, guard, defend. It took me a while to get back to normal.”
Over the next three seasons, OPJ played just 56, 14, and 28 games due to injuries. The Warriors were able to sign Porter Jr. on a minimum contract last summer because of the precarious state of his body and this acquisition was an absolute bargain.
Despite moving like present-day Kevon Looney and needing rest on the back end of back-to-backs, Otto Porter Jr. became an essential contributor to this Warriors’ championship run. Porter’s reputation as a shooter spaced the floor for both bench and starter-heavy units, but it was his transformation into a full-time 4 and occasional small-ball 5 that was especially impressive. From Draymond Green in December:
“But with Otto, obviously he came into this league a two/three. Now he’s kind of playing more of a four/five. That’s just how the game has gone. We were laughing at, me and Loon laugh like, ‘Loon when you came into the league you were a small-ball five. You’re an oversized five nowadays.’ That’s just the way this league has gone.
“Otto’s been tremendous in adapting to that role. He rebounds the ball extremely well. I noticed that at the very beginning of the season. I would tell Loon like, ‘Loon, Otto really rebounds.’ When I first said it to Loon, Loon said, ‘He better, he’s 6-9!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah Loon, but you know 6-9 guys, just because they’re 6-9 they don’t rebound it.’
There were occasions when Porter Jr. turned back the clock and was an offensive force. On Christmas Day, with the Warriors missing Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Damion Lee from COVID-19 diagnoses, OPJ put the team on his back in crunch time with a barrage of jumpers.
But as a result of a changed and reduced role, Otto’s scoring became a secondary skill for the Warriors. His season-high in points in any game this past season was 20. The last time it was that low, OPJ’s season-high was 21 points in his sophomore season with the Wizards. Where Otto provided unexpected value this past season was as a big man for the Warriors. Porter Jr. had 21 games of 7 or more rebounds, averaged nearly 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, and was an intuitive weak-side defender on the interior. I’ve provided a clip below that shows a nice mix of OPJ’s chops as both a perimeter and interior defender.
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