CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs’ backup point guard situation just got a lot more interesting.
With Darius Garland sidelined and questions swirling about Lonzo Ball’s health and workload, Craig Porter Jr. seized his opportunity in the preseason opener against Chicago, going a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range while showcasing the fruits of his offseason labor.
“Craig looks different. He’s in better shape,” said Chris Fedor, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter, after speaking with Porter following the game. “He told me how much he worked throughout the course of the offseason. He said he took more shots this offseason than any point throughout the course of his career and a majority of those shots were 3-pointers.”
The dedication to improving his outside shot wasn’t random. It was a strategic focus to address a specific weakness that opponents were exploiting.
“He had recognized that a majority of the teams playing against him would just go under screens,” Fedor explained. “And he feels like he’s a really, really good pick and roll player. And if he can get teams to honor his outside shot and not be able to go under pick and roll stuff, then he can make plays for himself. He can make plays for others.”
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Porter’s performance stood in stark contrast to Lonzo Ball, whose movement raised concerns among observers.
“Did anybody else think Lonzo looked super slow tonight?” Fedor asked. “It felt like he was in mud. It felt like he had cement boots on. So I think it’s something that we have to continue to monitor.”
Jimmy Watkins, cleveland.com columnist, noted that Porter’s shooting accuracy will force defenses to adjust, creating more opportunities for his natural playmaking skills to shine.
“If this, what we saw tonight, is real, he’s going to have a lot more opportunities to shoot ‘em because teams are going to keep going under screens for a while,” Watkins said. “The threes were great, and he looked really comfortable, particularly firing him off the dribble.”
What makes Porter’s emergence particularly significant is how it coincides with the team’s careful management of Ball’s workload.
According to Fedor, Ball is “essentially going to be in bubble wrap during the regular season,” with limited minutes and no back-to-backs. This approach opens a clear pathway for Porter to claim a consistent role.
“Craig is the backup point guard, and this is the opportunity that he’s been waiting for,” Fedor stated. “And this is how the Cavs as an organization have viewed him and he just hasn’t. He just hasn’t shown it. He just hasn’t done it. So I thought it was very, very encouraging.”
Porter’s journey hasn’t been straightforward.
After showing promise as a rookie when thrust into action during Garland’s injury absence, his opportunities diminished last season. Now in a contract year and another Garland injury creating a void, Porter appears to have found renewed focus and motivation.
“Craig Porter Jr., the way he handles and the way he can slither into the lane and then make slick passes,” Watkins observed. “He had four assists tonight. And almost every single one of them was like, Craig Porter Jr. is creating all of this and then just dumping it off for someone else to make a really easy bucket.”
If Porter can maintain this level of outside shooting while leveraging his natural playmaking abilities, the Cavaliers might have found their answer to a critical rotation question — and perhaps much more than that. The next preseason games will be telling as Porter looks to build on this promising performance.
To hear more about Porter’s development and the Cavs’ rotation battles, listen to the full episode of the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast.
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