2019 NBA Mock Draft: Getting familiar with the top of the 2019 class

Many are much higher on Porter than this — he could easily rise by taking advantage of a weak Pac-12 schedule and the departures of De’Anthony Melton and Chimezie Metu from the Trojans squad that made a surprise tournament run in 2017. This team is his, and that helps for wing playmakers to iron out their ball skills and read the game better by the time they get in front of NBA teams.

Charlotte’s goal should be to reinvent its roster around as many modern players as the franchise can get its hands on. The Hornets are on their way to this point, having drafted Malik Monk and Miles Bridges back-to-back as well as younger players like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller still around from the team’s last playoff appearance in 2016.

Porter Jr. is an elite athlete and long, mobile defender but is behind the rest of the lottery wings on offense. He is shooting 35 percent from 3 but just 54 percent from the free-throw line so far this year and has nearly as many turnovers as assists. He’s also currently dealing with a thigh injury but could return for the team’s Pac-12 slate. Early on, he reminds one of Josh Okogie, who put together a better statistical profile against stiffer ACC competition but fell to the 20s in a deeper draft.

Is the thin 2019 class coupled with Porter Jr.’s youth enough to cement him in the top 14?