Philadelphia 76ers: Keep an eye on new Magic forward Otto Porter

While there would presumably be a massive market for Otto Porter‘s services should he be granted a buyout, the veteran forward is reportedly planning to remain with the Orlando Magic, at least according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.

Could that ultimately be how things shake out? Most definitely. The Orlando Magic have been uniquely decimated by injuries this season, and after surrendering players like Aaron Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Evan Fournier at the trade deadline, there are minutes to be had on the wings for a player looking to enter free agency off the back of a strong end to the 2020-21 NBA season.

But do you want to know what’s better than playing 35 minutes a night on a Magic squad headed for a spot near the top of the draft lottery? Playing 25 minutes a night for the top team in the Eastern Conference 140 miles from where you went to college.

With April 9 designated as the final date a free agent can sign with a team and still be eligible for the postseason, could Porter have a change in the next week or so, especially after seeing just how much it stinks to play for a team that has lost 12 of their last 15 games without much hope sitting over the horizon?

If that happens, the Philadelphia 76ers should go hard at landing Otto Porter, as he’s a near-ideal fit for what they need coming off the bench for a playoff run.

Otto Porter is the big wing the Philadelphia 76ers have been needing for years.

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For a time, Otto Porter looked like the perfect third star for the Washington Wizards.

Porter went to Georgetown, was hand-selected by then-GM Ernie Grunfeld with the third overall pick in a truly bizarre 2013 NBA Draft, and for a time – from 2016-18 – was statistically one of the best 3 point shooters in the entire NBA.

Had John Wall not suffered a string of injuries that ended in an at-home torn ACL, maybe Porter would still be a member of the Wizards in a dynamic trio alongside Bradley Beal, but alas, that just wasn’t meant to be. With no clear path to the playoffs and a growing discontent in the locker room under head coach Scott Brooks, the Wizards opted to ship Porter to the Chicago Bulls for a package headlined by Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker in a, shall we say, unique attempt to save money and get out of a max-level contract, not seven months removed from signing it.

But the Wizards’ loss would turn out to be the Bulls’ gain, that is, when Porter was actually able to see the court.

Over his roughly two seasons with the Bulls split over three years, Porter only appeared in 54 games. While he still occasionally flashed his vintage 3-and-D form, as he recorded eight games with 20 or more points in a red and black jersey, Porter’s constant injury issues largely robbed the somehow-only-27-year-old forward of some of his versatility and left the Bulls with a player playing far below a max-level.

That, largely, is why the Bulls were willing to package Porter’s contract, alongside promising young big man Wendell Carter, to procure professional scorer – and noted Eagles fan – Nikola Vucevic to serve as the veteran frontcourt foil to Zach Levine in an all-out push for the playoffs in the East.

Will it work? Only time will tell, but it’s safe to say Porter’s old squad has a heck of a better chance to do so than his new squad, as evidenced by their current record.

If Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac were healthy, maybe the team could push hard for a spot in the NBA’s new 7-10 tournament, but with that trio out and players like Michael-Carter Williams suddenly playing massive minutes out of necessity, that’s probably not in Steve Clifford’s squad’s future.

Is that really how Porter wants to spend his final few games as a max contract player? Is the perception of being a buyout player really that much worse than being a player who averages what, 12 points a game as the number one option on the Magic? I know that’s the path Jeremi Grant took with the Detroit Pistons but is anyone expecting a similar scenario with Porter, let alone one that vaults him to a four-year contract in the $41 million range as per FiveThirtyEight?

Yeah, I don’t see that being the way things shake out.

No, the best chance Porter has to recapture the hearts of NBA GMs with cash to burn in the offseason is to prove he’s still a viable 3-and-D wing capable of contributing on a championship contender.

What team offered a better opportunity to do just that than the Sixers? The Nets? After their signing spree? As if.

As Adrian Wojnarowski, Bobby Marks, and really anyone with NBA knowledge will attest, players on the buyout market often look to latch on with a team that is not only a contender but also has a defined role available for a new signee.

That’s the Philadelphia 76ers.

Even after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Sixers still hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 32-14 record. They just added George Hill via trade, who should unquestionably help the team with their 3 point shooting and auxiliary playmaking needs, but in order to do so, Daryl Morey had to surrender his third and fourth string centers to get the deal done. While that likely won’t matter too much when Joel Embiid is back to full strength at some point in April, until then, the Sixers have been forced to play Mike Scott up a position as a small-ball center splitting under the basket duties with Ben Simmons, and needless to say, it hasn’t been great.

Like Scott, Porter is a 3-and-D wing who can play either forward position in “traditional” lineups, all the while being fully capable of kicking inside to play in the paint in small-ball lineups. Though Porter was seldom used at the five spot very often in Chicago, largely due to the team’s abundance of big men like Carter, Daniel Gafford, and Lauri Markkanen, he did get snaps at center during his final few years in Washington under Scott Brooks.

Sure, Scott has stepped up his game as of late, averaging four points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.3 minutes of action a night since February 23rd, but he’s still a fringe playoff rotation player who is at the very least vulnerable to losing his minutes if a player like Porter came to town. If that were to happen, the Sixers would likely be able to use Porter in a variety of different ways, from direct backup to Tobias Harris to a super-sized three against teams like the Celtics, or even as a small-ball five in the ever-elusive “Ben Simmons + shooters” lineup.

When you can secure a player who still averaged almost 10 points and 5.5 rebounds in 21.6 minutes of action a night during his worst statistical season as a pro – all the while draining 40 percent of his 3.8 shots from beyond the arc a game – for the cost of waiving a player like Ignas Brazdeikis, you have to at least consider it, right? That is what teams loading up for championship runs tend to do this time of year.

Next. On paper, George Hill checks all the boxes. dark

So Otto Porter, if you want to stick it out with the Orlando Magic in the hopes of puffing up your stats heading into free agency, have at it hoss; the NBA is a business, and if you genuinely feel that’s the best business decision for you and your family, who am I to judge? But between you and me, I can’t think of a better way to really prove that you are a player capable of logging serious minutes in the playoffs than, well, actually logging serious minutes in the playoffs on a team like the Philadelphia 76ers who are well-positioned to make a deep run. Just saying.