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Just how good is Kristaps Porzingis when healthy?

By Chase Hughes

Just how good is Porzingis when healthy? originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Kristaps Porzingis’ reputation as an NBA player has a well-established duality between his talent and availability. Yes, he’s good, but he has had some trouble staying healthy.

Porzingis has spoken about that himself and at length. During his introductory press conference with the Wizards, he stated his goal of rewriting that narrative.

Maybe he will indeed do that in Washington. He’s only 27 years old and wouldn’t be the first player to overcome injury issues early in his career to enjoy better luck later on. His new teammate Bradley Beal did the same, to a certain extent.

But let’s take Porzingis’ durability out of the equation. Just how good is he when he’s on the floor?

He might be better than most realize, actually. If you compare his numbers within the context of NBA history and the current league landscape, he stands out, and not just because he’s 7-foot-3 and so uniquely versatile he’s known as the ‘Unicorn.’

Porzingis, in fact, flies in some rare air statistically. Take his career averages of 18.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Porzingis is one of only 10 players in NBA history to average at least 18, 7 and 1.5 in those categories and the other nine players are a who’s who of top-tier big men. Those nine are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Anthony Davis, Yao Ming and Joel Embiid.

Porzingis also has the highest 3-point percentage among those 10 players at 35.3%. Now, he also has the lowest field goal percentage (44.4) and, not surprisingly, ranks low in terms of games played. Only Embiid (328) has appeared in fewer regular season games than Porzingis (337). As a result, he has the fewest win shares of the 10 and by a good margin.

Porzingis, though, is one of only three active players with career averages of 18+ points, 7+ rebounds and 1.5+ blocks. Embiid and Anthony Davis are the others.

While he has had well-documented injury problems, Porzingis has been even better since returning from his ACL surgery in the 2019-20 season. During that span of three seasons, he has averaged 20.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. Only Davis has averaged at least 20, 8 and 1.5 in those categories. Porzingis has also played in more regular season games than Davis (151 to 138) and has shot a better 3-point percentage (34.7 compared to 28.6), though has also shot a lower field goal percentage (45.1 compared to 50.8).

Porzingis’ rate statistics like per game average and shooting percentages have put him in a select group. But he’s also fared well, perhaps surprisingly, in volume categories.

Since the start of 2019-20, he has the seventh-most games (21) with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 2+ blocks. The only players with more are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. Porzingis has the 12th-most such games since 2015-16, when he entered the league, despite all the time he’s missed, including the entire 2018-19 season.

Porzingis also has the sixth-most games with 5+ blocks (27) since he was drafted. The five players ahead of him are Gobert, Myles Turner, Hassan Whiteside, Davis and Brook Lopez.

One perhaps underrated part of Porzingis’ game is his free throw shooting. He’s one of 21 players to shoot 80% or higher at the line on 700 or more attempts since 2019-20 began. He’s got the best percentage (83.7) among all big men with Jokic (83.1), Towns (82.8) and Embiid (82.6) behind him.

Beal is also on the list of 21 players, which means him and Porzingis are arguably one of the better free throw shooting duos in the NBA based on volume and percentage. That could bode well, particularly late in games. 

Now, the extent to which Porzingis has struggled to stay on the floor needs to be mentioned. Since he came back from ACL surgery for the 2019-20 season, he’s appeared in 151 of his team’s 226 total regular season games. Broken down by percentage, he has been absent about a third (33.2%) of the time.

But that doesn’t guarantee he will be injured all the time moving forward. He’s intent on changing that storyline and, if he does, the Wizards will have a very good player in their lineup. Just look at the numbers.

Basketball Reference’s Stathead was used for this research

Will 3-point shooting be Wizards’ biggest NBA trade deadline need?

By Chase Hughes
Is shooting Wizards' biggest trade deadline need? originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonThe Wizards' front office has likely already been deliberating over what to add at the Feb. 9 trade deadline for quite some time, but now that the calendar has turned to January, it is just over a month away. These next few weeks will be a crucial evaluation period for what the Wizards will do at the last mile marker to make significant additions to their roster.Tuesday night's loss to the Bucks served as a stark reminder of what they may need more than anything else. That is 3-point shooting and enough to overcome what has been a season-long problem of getting shots to fall on the road.Washington shot just 8-for-27 from deep in Milwaukee, good for 29.5%. It was the 21st time this season they have made 10 or fewer threes in a game and the 15th time it's happened on the road. They are 7-14 in those games overall and 4-11 when they occur on the road. When the Wizards make more than 10 threes, home or away, they are 10-8.Washington remains the worst 3-point shooting team in the league in away games. They are dead-last in road threes made (9.5/g) and road 3-point percentage (31.4).It's a very different story at home. Despite being 24th in the NBA in threes made overall this season (10.8/g) and 19th in percentage (34.4%), they are 12th in each category in home games, averaging 12.5 threes on 37.9%.The Wizards' recent five-game winning streak has breathed some new life into their postseason aspirations. Even after losing to the Bucks, they maintain the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, the final spot in the play-in tournament. They are 3 1/2 games back from the eighth seed with plenty of time to move up the ladder, just 39 games into their schedule.But Tuesday was an example of how not being able to make threes on the road could be a prohibitive problem in a playoff environment. Unless they finish with a top-4 seed in the East, they won't have homecourt advantage if they make the playoffs. And if they don't make their threes on the road, it's going to be tough to win.Three players on the Wizards have shot well from three on the road this season; Rui Hachimura (45.5%), Monte Morris (44.1%) and Corey Kispert (37.2%). Everyone else in their current rotation has been under 32%. That includes Kristaps Porzingis (22.1%), Deni Avdija (22.4%), Bradley Beal (25.9%) and Kyle Kuzma (31.5%).As for where the Wizards could add shooting, they are under-indexing at the guard position. In fact, no team has seen fewer threes made by guards this season than the Wizards, per NBA.com. In an ideal world, Beal could help change that, but he has had some availability issues and just re-aggravated his left hamstring injury against the Bucks.The Wizards have shown in recent years an ability to improve their chances at the trade deadline. Last February, they acquired Porzingis plus a second-round pick for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Porzingis is putting up big numbers and could be in line to make the All-Star team for the second time in his career.The year before, the Wizards acquired Daniel Gafford and didn't give up very much to do so. He has become a key member of their rotation and earned a contract extension in October 2021.Those two trades may indicate the Wizards will be thinking big once again as they approach this year's deadline. But given their struggles in 3-point shooting this season, especially on the road where they will almost certainly have to go if they make the playoffs, one area of need stands out above all else at the moment. Tuesday was the latest example.
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