The Toronto Raptors appeared to have added the perfect player to fix some of their issues for the 2021-22 season without compromising their schematic identity. Otto Porter Jr. cashed in after proving himself to be a nice 3-point marksman and versatile defender.
Porter, who was fresh off winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors, signed a two-year contract with the Raptors that had a player option worth over $6 million for the 2023-24 season. For a franchise that very rarely signs big-name free agents, adding Porter seemed like a tremendous win for Masai Ujiri.
Unfortunately, Porter has been one of the most injury-riddled players in the league since he was picked No. 3 overall by the Washington Wizards in 2014. A toe injury has kept him sidelined for months. Ominous warnings from Nick Nurse preceded a gut-punch injury update that ended Porter’s first Canadian campaign.
Porter underwent season-ending surgery on his left foot, bringing his debut year to an end after just eight games. After coming to Toronto with such high expectations, one of the biggest free agent signings in Raptors history is very quickly starting to look like a major bust due to his failing health.
Otto Porter Jr. has undergone season-ending surgery on his left foot.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 10, 2023
Toronto Raptors SF Otto Porter Jr. is out for the season.
Even when Porter was healthy and on the floor, he wasn’t setting the world on fire. Shooting much less than he did with Golden State, Porter averaged just 5.5 points per game and saw his 3-point percentage decrease. To be fair, it does take some time to get used to Nurse’s offense.
Porter will likely opt into his player option at the end of this season, as very few teams would be willing to pay him a good chunk of change in the open market with his history. The shame is that Porter still has tons of gas left in the tank, but his body is again deciding to fail him. Tough break.
While the Raptors have been able to stitch together a rotation without Porter in the fold for the last few weeks, the fact that the Raptors will no longer have his shooting for the remainder of the year could help Juancho Hernangomez potentially claw his way back into the lineup. Porter’s skillset is fairly unique, but Juancho may try to replace it.
https://twitter.com/YahooCASports/status/1612903434382106624
The Raptors could have used a veteran like Porter to fill a role as this team starts to run out of gas and fall further down the standings. The Raptors rolled the dice when signing him due to his medicals, and it appears as though their roll came up snake eyes.