2019 NBA Mock Draft: Will the Knicks’ big gamble pay off?

Drafting Porter at this point has to be treated as somewhat of a risk. Not even a trip to his home state of Washington could rejuvenate the freshman, who has scored in double figures just once since injuring his quad on Dec. 1 in a game against Nevada. If there were any team willing and confident taking on such a challenge, it would be Boston, a team which has made good players out of backcourt question marks such as Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier the past several years under Brad Stevens.

In two games against Washington and Washington State this week, Porter averaged just 17 minutes per game, scoring no more than eight points in either contest as he seemingly remains in coach Andy Enfield’s doghouse. Porter’s impact and involvement in the offense continue to be far below what became routine for him the first month of the season. Whether it be lingering effects of the quad injury or real problems in the locker room with his teammates, coaches or both, Porter is struggling.

It seems the folks who predicted and encouraged Porter to sit the remainder of the year following the quad injury were on the right track. This is the risk any prospect must face when they decide to return from an injury scare during their sole college season. The risk played out for Michael Porter Jr. last year when a back injury stole most of his only season at Missouri and led to a draft-night fall to No. 14, where the Nuggets snatched him up. MPJ returned to play the final game of the SEC tournament as well as Missouri’s first-round loss in the NCAA tourney, looking quite rusty and robotic in his movement in those contests.

If Porter keeps this up at USC, his stock could fall from top-five buzz to doubt about the lottery.