Ranking the Roster: Kevin Porter Jr. slices and dices at 7

All told, Kevin Porter Jr. is coming off a better season than I initially thought. I mean, averages of 17.4 PPG, 7.4 APG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.2 (!) SPG are nothing to sneeze at. Granted, those numbers are somewhat inflated because 1) he only played 38 games, and 2) he got heaps of minutes when he did play (33 minutes per night). Still, it’s impressive. Porter played a key role and hit a number of huge shots last year; I cast my mind back to that game at home against the Cavs late last season:

For all his warts, one thing I appreciate about KPJ is his confidence and self-belief. He’s not scared to take big shots and assume that responsibility. Also, Porter is really hard to stop when he gets going downhill; his goofy same-hand, same-foot finishes routinely catch shot-blocking bigs off guard, and he’s got the passing vision to go with it.

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With all that said, Porter is no perfect player. Firstly, he turns the ball over far too much (nearly three per game last season). He also takes some horrible, out-of-the-flow shots, which often lead to runouts down the other end and thus might as well be classed as turnovers. I still have nightmares from that 2025 playoff series against the Pacers. Yeesh.

The biggest issue I have with KPJ, however, is that he needs the ball in his hands for the offence to work; he shot 32.2% from deep last season, so his utility as an off-ball player is limited. Now, that becomes an issue when you consider the influx of guards Milwaukee has brought in over the offseason. Are they really going to prioritise Porter over Ryan Rollins or Tyler Herro? What about Brayden Burries? At least Jakucionis profiles well as an off-ball player.

This is one of the main reasons—along with the off-court stuff, obviously—that I don’t think the 26-year-old is long for this team. I reckon there’s a good chance Horst lets him walk in free agency once his player option expires at the end of this upcoming campaign. For now, though, let’s hope he has a great season.

Who’s up at six?


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Publish date : 2026-09-29 12:00:00

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