Who Are Marvin Bagley III And Michael Porter Jr? I’ll Tell You

For the first time in four years the Cleveland Cavaliers have a significant interest in this year’s draft. With the 8th pick, the Cavs have an opportunity to add young talent in a possibly historically talented draft. Unfortunately, they were not able to harness the draft gods to leap into the top 5 where at least one of the below players will be drafted. Just in case miracles happen, I’ll give you guys a run down of both Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr. as part of Cavs: the Blog’s ongoing draft preview. Let’s get started.

Marvin Bagley III

Marvin Bagley III is one of the more promising athletes to come out of this draft and is projected to go in the top three by most every expert around. Myself included. Okay, okay, I’m not sure you can consider me an expert, but you get the point. Other than Euro-star Luka Doncic, Bagley is likely the most NBA ready player of the top ten projected players and is about as close to a sure thing as you can get in this draft.

In the Raw:

Marvin Bagley III is a 6’11”, 234 pound product of Duke with a 7’0″ wingspan. The 19 year old is an athletic freak who made quite an impact in his short time in college. Bagley managed to earn 1st Team All-American, ACC Player of the Year, and a finalist for the Naismith Award. During his brief tenure he led the ACC in offensive rebounds (132), points per game (21.0), rebounds per game (11.1), field goal percentage (.614), offensive rating (127.7), win-shares (6.9), and with a PER of 30.6. Those numbers are certainly astounding in one of the more challenging conferences around the country. Physically, he is about the size of Ben Simmons, though not nearly the playmaker.

The incoming forward was effective primarily on the offensive end of the court. He averaged those 21 points per game on 61.4% shooting (74.3% at the rim) but managed to shoot 39.7% from three as well. He shot less than 2 threes per game but in today’s NBA he’ll likely expand that aspect of his game almost immediately upon entering the League. When Bagley did miss shots, he was able to give himself a pretty good chance at rebounding the miss. He averaged 4 offensive rebounds per game, sucking up 13.8% of all of those chances. When added to his 1.7 assists per game it’s easy to see how he managed an ORTG of 127.7. He did average 2.3 turnovers per game so he will have to cut those down to be a more effective passer.

On the defensive end his strength is primarily in his rebounding, averaging 7.1 per game and collecting 21.5% percent of those. With his length and athleticism one would expect a bit more on the defensive end but still managed to average almost a block per game and almost a steal per game with 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. Still, Bagley has the quickness and length to be effective in pick-and-rolls if he puts in the work. He does a good job of staying out of foul trouble as he averaged only 1.8 fouls per game so he shouldn’t have any problems staying on the court.

Strengths:

Bagley’s main strengths are going to come on the offensive end. He can score from just about everywhere on the court and is particularly effective in transition, using his speed and athleticism to run the length of the court. Bagley is the type of play to gather up a defensive rebound and run the court to finish at the other end. He’s 6’11” but is able to play like a wing more than a prototypical big man. As mentioned above, he shot 39.7% from beyond the arc. While he only put up 1.8 threes per game, the potential to expand that part of his game is definitely there. Especially as the three shooting big men is now the standard in the NBA. Plus, as Nate mentioned in an email, his “non-pterodactyl arms can help make his shot more compact.” This should help him as he works to solidify an already decent shooting motion.

He’s not the most gifted jumper but he’s got great athleticism and instincts as a roll man, making him a regular lob threat. He’s also the exact opposite of Tristan Thompson in terms of gathering himself. When he catches the ball underneath the rim he is almost immediately going back up with the ball. He springs toward the rim in the blink of an eye and doesn’t need to bring the ball to his knees before coming back up with it. This is a big man cardinal sin that TT just can’t drop.

Weaknesses:

There is a lot to wonder about Bagley’s defensive game. While his compact arms may help his shot, it certainly doesn’t help him protect the rim. He isn’t all that aggressive underneath and averages only 0.9 blocks per game. He occasionally has difficulty boxing out and relying on jumping to get the rebounds. And while he has the physical tools to be talented on that end, he lacks the instincts to be truly effective as well as the motivation for it. He fails to communicate often and resists physicality underneath.

He’s only 234 pounds at 6’11” so he could afford to add some muscle. You can see this in his back-to-the-basket game. Bagley has the tendency to force himself into a face up position where he is incredibly effective but pretty much exclusively goes to his strong left hand. He will need to prove he can go right to keep defenders honest. He’s also not a particularly enthusiastic screener. Just as he is on the defensive end, he tends to avoid contact when coming out to set a screen. He’ll also need to improve from the charity stripe as he shot only 62.7% on free throws.

From My Eyes:

Marvin Bagley III is one of my favorite prospects in this draft. His skills on the offensive end have the potential to be absolutely electric. I picture him sucking up rebounds and loping down the court to finish on the other end. I think he’s going to have no problem extending his shot and if he can put in the work and effort on the defensive end he’ll be truly special. He’s being compared to Kevin Garnett on the offensive end and that’s not far off. Again, he’s not nearly the defender, but there’s certainly potential to improve on that end.

Having the ability to get easy baskets in transition and off of offensive rebounds is going to help him adjust quickly to the NBA and gives him a couple skills that will translate immediately to the big leagues. There were some early rumblings that he might drop as low as 7th pick in the draft due to his issues on the defensive end, but it would be criminal if he drops lower than 3rd, and I don’t expect it. Bagley III should be a marvel to watch in the years to come.

Michael Porter Jr.

Michael Porter Jr. is one of the more interesting cases in this year’s draft. He was originally projected to go in the top five but injured his back forcing him to have back surgery and miss all but 53 minutes of play time at Mizzou. The unproven wing could go anywhere from the number 2 pick all the way down to the Cavs at number 8, making him this years biggest question mark. Let’s see why.

In the Raw:

There isn’t much in the way of college stats for Porter Jr. as he only played those 53 minutes. The 19 year old scored only 30 points, snatched 20 rebounds, had 1 block, and 3 steals. He added an assists but had 3 turnovers. He shot 3 of 10 from beyond the arc and 7 for 20 from inside the three, good for only 33% from the field. And that’s about the sum total of his college career. Not much to go on, right?

Well, sort of. Porter Jr. is another 6’11” player, or depending on who you read, 6’10.5″ and weighs 215 pounds but he plays as a wing giving him great size for the position. He’s far more of a combo forward than anything resembling a center. Plus, he’s a scorer. Per Bleacher Report, Porter Jr. managed 15.8 points in just 21 minutes per game during the 2016 U18 Americas Championship and 17.3 points in 20 mpg in 2017 during three games for Adidas.

He will have to go through some more medical examinations by the teams interested in him as he was just medically cleared for workouts. That will do more to determine his draft position than anything else at this point.

Strengths:

Again, most of Porter Jr.’s draw is his offensive game. He’s got a great shooting form and can score from just about anywhere. He doesn’t have any problems in catch-and-shoot situations nor does he have trouble off the dribble. Plus, he’s got the physical proportions to be a big mismatch on either end of the court. If he can get in shape and his back isn’t a problem, he can be a great two way player assuming he improves on fundamentals he hasn’t worked on for months.

The 19 year old can run the court and finish above the rim without problems. He also is frequently crashing the offensive boards, using his length and athleticism to fly in from the perimeter. Assuming he can get stronger, he has great two-way potential as he is decent at disrupting passing lanes.

Weaknesses:

His health is a big question mark at this point. As we’ve seen with Kevin Love and many others, back problems can be incredibly difficult to get rid of as he moves forward in his career. It’s also prevented any NBA scouts from collecting much data on his game. This is why he could go as high as second and as low as tenth this year. He’s not a great dribbler which limits his driving ability to straight lines from the perimeter and doesn’t exactly knock one’s socks off in terms of passing.

He’s also got to get much stronger. His legs look like toothpicks which could prevent him from establishing position in desirable mismatches, given his size. His strength also impacts his ability to rebound the ball as he has trouble establishing position underneath the rim and doesn’t do well with much contact.

From My Eyes:

Porter Jr. is an interesting prospect. Would I take him with the number 1 pick in the draft? No. Would I take him above Doncic or Bagley? No. But after that, things get a bit funky. He has an extremely high ceiling but a pretty low floor given we know very little about his game. However, if he gets to number 8 with the Cavs you absolutely have to take him there. He’s got too much potential to pass on at that point. I do think, however, that Porter Jr. is a big risk who require some decent coaching. He’s being compared to Kevin Durant and Joe Johnson in his play style but I think we should expect far more Joe Johnson and far less Kevin Durant. He has a lot of potential but even more question marks.

**All statistics from www.sports-reference.com