Kristaps Porzingis deserves a ton of credit for his evolution since arriving in Boston. There was a time when Porzingis was derided for every post touch and smeared as nothing more than a spot-up shooter and vertical lob threat. Now he’s one of the most efficient post-up threats in the NBA, with enough strength to absorb contact and the length to finish over the top of just about anyone.
- Chris Kline
FanSided Staff Writer
It has been a famously bumpy journey to the top for Porzingis, but he has cemented his reputation as one of this generation’s most adaptable and accomplished unicorns. There are still the inherent benefits of a mobile 7-foot-2 big who can bomb deep 3s and get up for dunks at the rim. Porzingis doesn’t quite have the on-ball juice he did coming into the league, but he can still straight-line drive against closeouts and sharply process the floor around him.
Perhaps his most impressive growth, however, has occurred on the defensive end. Porzingis was always a highly appealing talent on that end of the floor, but he has actualized that immense natural ability in recent years. He’s a dominant shot-blocker with the ability to cover ground on the perimeter and acquiescence to different coverages based on team need. We typically talk about 3-and-D wings, but Porzingis is the ultimate 3-and-D 7-footer, with an increasingly robust interior scoring profile to round things out.