Make what you will of the preseason, Kevin Porter Jr.'s strong showing from 3-point range gives his doubters no evidence to speak of as the Milwaukee Bucks gear up for opening night. Letting loose in earnest in the preseason finale, Porter drained four threes in six tries and looked good doing it, too.
Among his makes was a smooth stepback in rhythm and a swish through contact, his back turned Steph Curry-style as the ball went through the hoop. It won't keep the skeptics quiet, but it should keep them at bay for now as he attempts to prove that his new stroke is the real deal.
New role and shot diet suggest Porter is poised to prove doubters wrong
Big picture, concern over Porter's shot is understandable. He shot threes at a measly 24.5 percent with the Clippers last season before jumping to 40.8 percent for the Bucks. Porter is a 35 percent career shooter, and his best seasons, decent but nothing spectacular, date back before his NBA hiatus in 2023-24. Whatever he was then, he may not be the same player now.
The key question is whether he's closer to the guy who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in Los Angeles or the hot hand that caught fire in Milwaukee. You could argue that he is somewhere in between, but the more recent version of Porter, the Bucks version, was so different from his Clippers self that a middle-ground theory might not even apply.
Doubters will point to sample size, with good reason. Outside of Milwaukee, Porter has shot 34.8 percent on over 1200 attempts. Including the playoffs, he attempted only 86 threes with the Bucks last season, making them at a 41.9 percent clip. Was that just a hot streak, or has he found himself in the Bucks' offense? He has a clear role, the backing of the head coach, and he isn't shaking off rust from a yearlong absence.
The Bucks need him to score, but he won't be called upon to supply the volume of shots that he was in Houston.
It's hard to take too much away from the preseason, but it's worth noting that Porter went 6-of-10 from distance without forcing attempts. In fact, the Bucks probably want him to take a higher portion of shots from beyond the arc than the four he got up in 22 field goal attempts in preseason games one through three.
On a Giannis Antetokounmpo-run offense, Porter will also get a fair share of catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities as opposed to creating his own. Post-All-Star break last season, approximately equivalent to his time with the Bucks, he shot over 40 percent on both set shots and pull-ups on similar, if low volume.
Maybe his efficiency was just a fluke, but in his last two NBA seasons with Houston (2022-23 and '21-22), he converted catch-and-shoot chances at 43.5 percent and 48.2 percent, respectively. The problem was that he got up only around two per game, with a much higher diet of less efficient pull-up attempts.
Shot diet tanked his overall 3-point percentage and contributed to his reputation as a fundamentally poor shooter. The only season he hasn't converted better than 40 percent on catch-and-shoot tries was in 26 games as a sophomore. If the Bucks keep getting him the right looks, he could be on track for his most efficient season yet.