Wizards Otto Porter ready to watch and learn from Paul Pierce

Some young forwards would be discouraged if a veteran like Paul Pierce came to town and took all their minutes. Otto Porter has no problem with it.

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“When I heard I said, ‘Wow, that’s a veteran guy,’” he said, via CSN Washington. “That’s a winner, too. He knows how to win playoff games. He’s been there and done this.”

Pierce’s contract was relatively cheap at $11 million for two years. Perhaps, the Wizards were compensating for having two already expensive, young forwards on the roster. Porter’s will make almost $4.5 million this year and Webster will make $5.3 million. Payment aside, there’s something poetic to have a rising star on one end of the depth chart and a fading one on the other end. The Wizards hope Paul Pierce will do wonders for Porter’s development.

“It’s a blessing in disguise to have a guy like Paul Pierce coming to this team, especially for Otto. It’s a blessing. To have that kind of leadership, that kind of experience to come to your team, he’s going to uplift this whole ballclub. It was big that we got him. Huge rather,” assistant coach Sam Cassell said, via CSN Washington. “Just in that locker room, he’s been captain of the Celtics for 13, 14 years. That’s not too easy to get. He had it for a long, long time. He won a championship. Kevin (Garnett) wasn’t a captain. Ray (Allen) wasn’t a captain. Paul Pierce was the captain of the team. That was big. We know it.”

Porter made a statement the day before the signing saying that he intended to start. Now he sings to a different tune.

“I’m going to do what I can to get out there and help my team. No question with Paul Pierce coming, he is going to be one of our leaders,” Porter said, via CSN Washington. “So I expect to learn a lot from him.”

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