2019 NBA Mock Draft: Could the Hawks jumpstart their rebuild in 2019?

Buckle up. A lot has happened for Porter since the last edition of our mock draft. After weeks of speculation about Porter’s return from a thigh injury, the freshman returned for the Trojans on Thursday and put up a clunker of a game, scoring just 5 points on 2-7 shooting. What happened next made no sense — he was suspended indefinitely on Sunday by the basketball program and then responded on Twitter saying any reports that he would not return to the program were “all false.”

Huh? Porter clearly WAS suspended by USC, with coach Andy Enfield going so far as to say, “We’ll reevaluate his future with the program this week.” But Porter tweeted he “has never been put in a predicament… that I was removed & wasn’t apart of this program.” Call it what you want, Mr. Porter, but that’s exactly what’s going on in your career right now. Something you did was deemed inappropriate by your coaches and now you don’t get to be with your team. And it bodes horribly for your NBA future.

It’s important to remember this all came on the heels of Porter’s worst game of the season. In 27 minutes, he only mustered 5 points and — as he has all year — struggled with foul trouble. Reporting during Porter’s recovery from the leg injury indicated Porter’s people felt he showed enough in the first five games of the season to cement himself as a lottery pick in 2019. If that was the plan, Porter’s poor play and off-court behavior have to worry those around him that felt certain about his draft stock.

This situation is huge for the 2019 class. We’ll be keeping an eye on it.