Last season the Washington Wizards decided to play smaller in the playoffs and it proved to be pretty successful for them. One can make the argument that if John Wall was fully healthy the Wizards would have made the Eastern Conference Finals. Paul Pierce was the guy the Wizards mostly used as a stretch four a year ago but he is now a Los Angeles Clipper so this season Otto Porter will have to be the guy to step up and he thinks he is ready to do so, according to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.
Porter was on SiriusXM NBA Radio with Tom Byrne and Vinny Del Negro when he made the comments that he is prepared to take on a bigger role with the Wizards including playing the stretch four.
"Definitely, because that's who the NBA is transitioning, you know, to smaller lineups. So being able to stretch out as a four is going to be key and that is something with our coaching we might end up doing. It's definitely something I'll be comfortable with," said Porter.
Porter is expected to start games as the small forward but like he said the NBA is transitioning to teams going to smaller lineups especially at the ends of games. Nene will be the starting power forward but odds are he won't be on the floor during crunch time and instead the Wizards will use a lineup of Wall, Bradley Beal, Jared Dudley, Porter, and Marcin Gortat or something similar.
Porter was the third overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft but he has yet to make much of an impact in the NBA for the Wizards. Last season Porter was blocked by Pierce and only played 19.4 minutes per game during the regular season but this year he won't have that issue as he should see a lot of playing time. Porter showed he is capable of producing in big minutes during the playoffs last season when he played 33 minutes per game and averaged 10 points and eight rebounds while making 38 percent of his threes.
Porter was a highly touted player coming out of Georgetown a few years ago and has all the talent necessary to be a good NBA player. Still just 22 years old, Porter might be the Wizards most important players this season because if he can play like he did during the playoffs last season Washington could be a major force in the Eastern Conference.
