A team needs to have standards.
That was the idea running through my mind when I heard that Kevin Porter Jr. was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this week. In the last, disastrous season for Cream City, Porter averaged more than 17 points and seven assists, with more than two steals per night. While his efficiency wasn’t fantastic, his production was undeniable, and under usual circumstances, he would have been an ideal acquisition for a number of teams, including the Toronto Raptors.
But with
KPJ, circumstances are far from normal.
Serious legal problems
The guard’s documented history of violence has already sent him out of the league in a previous stint. As early as 2022, there were already “ongoing concerns about volatility,” said Nate, over at our sister site, Brew Hoop. He continued to describe Porter Jr.’s legal troubles that resulted in felony charges as a result of accused domestic abuse.
The circumstances of the case are murky, as his partner at the time, Kysre Gondrezick, is alleged by police to have told the authorities that she had been struck in the face multiple times to the point of bleeding, as well as been a victim of strangulation by Porter Jr. An ABC report pointed to a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney alleging a pattern of abuse in the relationship.
However, Gondrezick had come out and denied that any such attack had taken place in an interview with the New York Post. Porter Jr. ended up accepting a plea deal where he accepted responsibility for misdemeanour assault and harassment.
The circumstances resulted in Porter Jr. being traded and waived, before eventually making his way back into the league, ending up on the Los Angeles Clippers and eventually the Milwaukee Bucks. The PG was waived by a team that had a number of other standout guards, namely, recent acquisition Tyler Herro, and Ryan Rollins.
Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins called the waiver a “very difficult decision” made to support other guards on the team, but spoke positively about Porter Jr, in a clip shared by journalist Cameron Ezeir.
However, there was been very little discussion about where exactly a player of his calibre might end up since his departure from the team, which, as aforementioned, would be unusual without being coupled to the point guard’s apparent history of disgraceful personal conduct.
Why the Toronto fit wouldn’t work
Some Toronto Raptors fans have been clamouring for a change at point guard, displeased with Immanuel Quickley in the role. However, it should be undoubtedly clear based on two waivers thus far, that regardless of what he does on the hardwood, Kevin Porter Jr. should not be on any Toronto fan’s wishlist for the roster.
The Raptors’ strength is in large part based on locker room cohesion, and an absence of tension. The Raps are not in the business of managing problem players, and someone like Kevin Porter Jr. has demonstrated himself to be exactly that, even in his earliest days on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Porter Jr. could be a massive disruptor of chemistry, and after his very public legal battle, has demonstrated himself unfit to play for any team, let alone the Toronto Raptors.
Fans and front office alike will be testing the waters this year for new additions to the Raptors as they make a playoff push, but regardless of how dire the circumstances get, Kevin Porter Jr. is not the answer to anyone’s problems.
