Porter screams Tayshaun Prince
Beal doesn't have Harden's handles. Plus he plays in a crappy system. But the postseason gave me hope they can be a lot better with floor spacing.
I'd say yes he does have some tayshaun in him. I went to compare their numbers in the playoffs with prince and it kinda confirmed what I think. Prince on a side note was a better three point shooter than I remember. I think porter is a better rebounder than prince. Also he turns the ball over way less. Their stats are similar. Porter really struggled from the free throw line so I wonder that that says. But I think long term porter is a better mid range player than prince. I think he'll end up a better scorer. So really I think he's a rich man's prince.
Which leads me to George. I remember watching Paul George play against nick young pre draft. Nick was a starter for us then. Paul was like a man against boys there. I remember his knock as a prospect was he shot too many threes and wasn't a good shooter from there.
If you look at playoff numbers porter is still on pace to have a Paul George like path. Only difference between then is athleticism. Size is the same. Porter I think is a smarter player or at the very least isn't dwarfed basketball iq wise. I think even based on playoff stats at same age they score and rebound about the same. But porter has an advantage. He doesn't turn the ball over and George assist to turnover ratio sucks. I think porters will be better. I also don't think George is a natural scorer. He made the leap the time Granger was out but if you look at his percentages porter can do those numbers at those percentages.
One thing i do like about George is his two way ability so he has a lot of utility. Bottom line is other than athleticism, I'm not ready to think George is a superior prospect to porter at the same age. The same way I think Beal if he continues like this could be hardens equal. Maybe not quite offensively because harden is a beast there. But again I can't totally put this out of beans reach eventually if he was the primary option. He's showing an improving distribution ability. On top of that Beal can defend which harden has not been known for.
Wall I hope to be a better distributing westbrook. So westbrook harden and George are their prototypes but arguable there's something they do better than those three guys. They're not completely out of the trajectory to become those guys. Although all of those guys became big after an increase in responsibility.
Fwiw I think we were better vs Atlanta with porter in it. When he was there and pierce rested we made our run and closed up a huge point difference in game six. When pierce and nene came back in defense suffered and Atlanta pulled away. No doubt though pierce was our best closer.