Since returning from injury, Kevin Porter Jr. has been everything the Milwaukee Bucks hoped for and then some. Meanwhile, his former team, the Clippers, desperately needs guard help amid a dismal 6-16 start to their season.
The thing is, they could have just kept Porter at the last trade deadline instead of flipping him to Milwaukee for MarJon Beauchamp. That move did not age well, and it looks even worse in light of Los Angeles' problems. In case they wanted to forget about it, Porter's stellar play in his return is just throwing salt in the Clippers' wound.
In hindsight, keeping Porter could have saved Clippers a headache
After getting his feet back beneath him against the Nets, Porter went off for 30 points on 80 percent shooting against the Wizards, then followed up with 26 points in Milwaukee's comeback win over Detroit. The Bucks knew they needed his shot creation, but it's possible they didn't even know just how badly they did.
Over in Los Angeles, the Clippers are only losing players, not getting anyone back. A hip injury ended Bradley Beal's season after six games. Now they've cut ties with Chris Paul, who wasn't playing well anyway. They don't have a backup point guard of any kind, and further injuries have left them without any backcourt depth at all.
The Clippers' situation is so dire that they had to sign RayJ Dennis to a two-way contract. He could see real minutes in Los Angeles' next game on Friday.
To be fair, the Clippers had no way to foresee Beal's injury, Paul's fallout, or Porter's upswing in Milwaukee. At the time of the trade, Porter was playing poorly and looked rusty after a yearlong hiatus from the league. He performed better off the Bucks' bench but didn't attract much of a market in free agency, allowing Milwaukee to re-sign him for relatively cheap. For most of the league, Beal was a far more appealing player after his buyout from the Suns.
None of that helps to dull the angst Clippers fans may feel tuning in to a random Bucks game and seeing Porter spring up and down the floor. It's only a few games, but the Bucks' brief glimpse of Porter this season suggests that he might be back to his dynamic days in Houston. On its ancient, injured roster, Los Angeles could certainly use his energy and burst, to say nothing of his sheer production.
With a 10-13 record and Giannis drama galore, it's not like things are rosy for the Bucks right now, but they're glad to be the ones benefiting from Porter's presence on the team.