Rival front offices think Raptors' Porter Jr. is "frail" and undesirable: report
The Toronto Raptors head into the 2022-23 offseason with a series of questions about who will be on the roster next year.
One player who’s almost certainly going to be on next season’s opening-day roster is returning forward Otto Porter Jr., though it almost feels like it’s his first true go-around with the team.
He played just eight games last season in his first year in Toronto after signing a two-year contract in free agency but picked up his player option last month for next year after dealing with a series of injuries this past season.
A 2022 NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, the sharpshooting Porter Jr. fell victim to a dislocated toe injury that caused him to officially be out for the season in January.
Described by Sportsnet’s Michael Grange as a “negative value” contract for next season — one that Toronto would have to attach an additional asset for a team to take on, there’s simply not that much interest among the league’s contending teams in trading for the oft-injured forward.
Despite having the pedigree of an NBA champion with a career .397 shooting ability from three-point range, there’s not that much external interest in the 30-year-old.
“Nobody wants Otto Porter Jr.,” said one league executive, per an article from Grange today. “He’s frail. He’s always a lay-up away from being out six-to-eight weeks.”
Harsh words, but the world of professional sports is hardly one for niceties. For the time being at least, it seems like Toronto’s best bet is to see what they can get out of the veteran forward in year two with the Raptors.
Porter Jr. has suited up in just 169 regular season games over the last five seasons in Washington, Chicago, Orlando, Golden State, and Toronto, so it’s not like it’s a baseless claim, either.
In the eight games he did play last season, Porter averaged 5.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game for Toronto, shooting .353 from three-point range in 18.3 minutes per game.
Such is life as Toronto looks to rectify the two-year deal they signed with Porter Jr. fresh off his Warriors title win.
“You get an experienced shooter, a big player who has a great basketball IQ and could fit in with this team, but it never worked out and he had to have surgery,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said of Porter’s injury at his end of season press conference. “So we’ll see how his surgery heals. And he’s in that process now, but the plan is for him to heal and be part of the roster next season.”
Follow Channels and Categories