The Cleveland Cavaliers will face some major challenges in the offseason.
The new CBA places some severe limitations on second-apron teams, and as such, their chances of signing a big-name free agent or pulling off a blockbuster trade are quite slim.
On top of that, they won’t have a first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
Considering that, most of their reinforcements will have to come from inside the building.
With that in mind, team insider Terry Pluto revealed that the Cavs wanted ‘more fire’ from Craig Porter Jr., who has yet to take a leap and needs to be more aggressive when he’s on the court:
“The Cavs plan to challenge Craig Porter Jr. The point guard is heading into his third NBA season. While most of the discussion about Porter is about improving his 3-point shooting, the Cavs see other key areas that need an upgrade. They want him to be more assertive. Porter has ballhandling skills. He has good poise. But he needs to show he can lead an offense and be in elite physical condition. Bottom line: They want more fire from the 25-year-old,” Pluto wrote.
Porter has showcased his solid ball-handling and playmaking skills on limited minutes, but Kenny Atkinson didn’t seem to trust him that much at this point in his development.
Now, with Ty Jerome most likely on his way out and Darius Garland expected to miss a couple of games early in the year, there should be plenty of opportunities for the third-year pro to prove that he can hold his ground in the league.
The Cavs won’t have a lot of money to spend in free agency, and unless they trade for someone like Lonzo Ball, there won’t be many avenues for getting better at the backup point guard position.
This will be a crucial season for Porter, and failure to prove that he’s the kind of player this team needs might seal his fate with the organization.
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