Get to know your 2018 NBA Draft Lottery Picks: Michael Porter Jr.

By Kels Dayton
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 10, 2017

Photo: Getty Images

In just a few months, the college basketball season will tip off, and for some fans, it’ll be like the first day of college itself. You’re excited, jittery even, but you have no idea who anyone is, and you’re real scared.

Luckily in this age of technology, incoming freshmen have Facebook. And college hoops fans have Roundball Daily. Get to know the best players of the upcoming season (and in all likelihood the 2018 NBA lottery picks) with our helpful series.

Get to know: Wendell Carter Jr. , Mohamed Bamba, DeAndre Ayton, Robert Williams, Kevin Knox, Collin Sexton, Tremont Waters

Michael Porter Jr.

Height/Weight: 6-10, 215 lbs.

School: Missouri

Class: Freshman

This kid has a unique combination of size, guard skills, defensive ability, and compete level. He’s got an NBA-ready body, chases down blocks in transition like LeBron, can shoot the 3 and has a solid handle. He’ll become an immediate star in college because he’s so physically gifted; his combination of big man-size with guard ability, coordination and body control will be tough to handle at the college level.

He’s a solid shooter with good form, and has easy bounce. He’s also a committed rebounder and a good defender–his length and lateral quickness could make him a menace on the wing. He’s also by all accounts a great kid, a hard worker with a good head on his shoulders. Porter chose Missouri in part because he’s from Columbia, though he played high school ball at Nathan Hale in Seattle. He would have ended up at Washington had Lorenzo Romar not been fired; his father had an assistant coaching position there, but ended up moving on to Missouri with new head coach Cuonzo Martin (formerly of California, where he lured talent like Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, and Tennessee, which he brought to the Sweet 16).

The Tigers were awful under former coach Kim Anderson, who played at the school but simply couldn’t repurpose the magic as a head coach, but things are really looking up now. Porter’s supporting cast isn’t great, so there’s a chance this could be an LSU-with-Ben Simmons type of team, a middling outfit that misses the NCAA’s. We’re betting that won’t be the case, though. Martin is an excellent motivator and good X’s and O’s guy, and we think he and Porter will be enough to get Missouri into the tournament, even in a very difficult SEC East.