Otto Porter Jr.’s injury update indicates that the Raptors have officially cursed his tenure.
Otto Porter Jr. is being used more frequently in the Toronto Raptors’ lineup as part of their team’s desperate attempts to stay in the play-in race, aside from a clear shift in the starting lineup. Porter’s presence turned from a welcome extra boost to an absolute necessity on a team with so few shooters.
Porter will stay in the Raptors rotation going forward, head coach Darko Rajakovic said a few days ago, assuming no injuries occur. As luck would have it, the always-fragile Porter was bitten by the injury bug again just after Rajakovic said those words.
Porter’s foot contusion, which kept him out of action for the majority of his rookie season, worsened as he left Toronto’s humiliating loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
Given Porter’s past history of injuries and the meticulous attention to detail the team has displayed to ensure he stays injury-free, there’s a good chance Toronto will proceed cautiously when dealing with Porter. In an effort to prevent things from getting worse, he might not play in the next few games.
In the last two seasons, Porter has only appeared in 19 games for the Raptors due to foot injuries that have mainly kept the former Golden State Warriors champion out of the game. Although he is shooting 36% from 3-point range for a team that has struggled to find shooters recently, his health has made it difficult for him to develop into a consistent player.
In the last few games, Porter has been playing as a small ball big man in an attempt to improve the terrible spacing for the Raptors. Porter is in the last year of a two-year contract, and he hasn’t performed as Toronto had anticipated.
In the event that Porter is unable to travel, expect the deteriorating Jalen McDaniels to likely score a few more runs.
The Raptors have been frustrated by the Porter experiment in its entirety since they haven’t been able to break out of neutral. Given Porter’s past, this most recent setback may signal the beginning of a longer period of inactivity and the loss of another shooter for Toronto.
Porter is in the last year of a two-year contract, and he hasn’t performed as Toronto had anticipated.
In the event that Porter is unable to play, Jalen McDaniels, who is deteriorating, will probably receive some extra runs in the rotation. Even though he hasn’t shot well this season, the fact that he was able to show that he can shoot at least somewhat well in Charlotte and Philadelphia will probably give him the advantage.
