Houston Rockets: 3 things to look for in Kevin Porter jr.’s debut

Houston Rockets: Thing to look for in Kevin Porter’s debut #2: Finding his flow on offense

One of the most difficult transitions that almost all NBA players have to go through is learning how not to be the man. Remember, every NBA player was an absolutely dominant youth player.

Most players don’t start to learn how to play off the ball until they reach the league and Kevin Porter jr. is no different. Even in his rookie season in Cleveland he came off the bench and was given free rein to attack on offense.

In the G-League, Porter was given even more license to dominate the ball. His usage rate of 29.9-percent would be a top-20 mark in the NBA this season, even with Kawhi Leonard and a fraction of a percent higher than Kyrie Irving.

Of the utmost importance is for Porter to find his place in the Rockets offense when he doesn’t have the ball. Developing his off-ball game will be very important for Porter, especially early on, because the team has three veteran ball handlers.

Porter needs to hit his catch and shoot threes, cut decisively, and make quick reads when passing. These little things go a long way in being an impactful off-ball player and lead to easy buckets for Porter and his teammates.

With young players, the hardest things tend to be the simple things. Whether it’s playing off-ball, making quick easy passes, or rotating on defense, the fundamentals take time because for most of their life their talent made the fundamentals irrelevant. Porter needs to master the fundamentals and how quickly he buys into them will determine how quickly he finds a serious role on the team.

Next: Thing to look for #1