‘He wants the best.’ – Cleveland Cavaliers to move on from Kevin Porter Jr.

After trading for his draft rights in 2019 and seeing it as a cornerstone of the franchise, the Cleveland Cavaliers are moving on from Kevin Porter Jr .. Porter has yet to be sacked. playing this season for personal reasons. On Friday, the night he joined his teammates and made positive progress toward a return, Porter became furious when he entered the locker room and realized that the crew of his former locker to Taurean Prince, found in James Harden’s trade Wednesday. Because of that uprising general manager Koby Altman and JB Bickerstaff came into the locker room to talk to Porter – who didn’t cool down.

After trying to help Porter get his life back together in the last few months out of court and then starting to re-integrate into the team by welcoming to work on Thursday. before joining his players on the bench one night later against the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers have spent the last few days bidding – and will continue to study the market trade for him. If they can’t find a deal soon, Porter will be released, sources say.

“It is for the best,” said one official at the Western Conference. “Cleveland is not wrong about how they handled Porter’s situation. They were very patient with him trying to help him with out-of-court matters. Not many teams are willing to go through that for a player – especially one who was selected at the end of the first round. ”

The reason Cleveland was willing to go through those lengths for Porter was because they believed in his talent. Throughout the pre-draft process, Altman and his staff saw Porter as top talent in the 2019 class draft. However, concerns about maturity during his time at Southern California caused him to slip down the ladder. draft board. That’s how Porter ended up being available at the thirtieth pick, and how the Cavaliers were able to send four bricks in the second round and consider putting money to the Detroit Pistons to get them.

These same mature concerns have transported Porter to Cleveland.

In August, Porter was accused of hitting a woman in the face during a riot in central Cleveland in August. According to a report from Cleveland Police, a 26-year-old woman and a 19-year-old woman said they were leaving an apartment unit when they were approached by Porter and his sister, who are not named in the report. As Porter ‘s sister and the 26 – year – old changed words, Porter’ s sister reportedly swam and punched the 26 – year – old in the face. Meanwhile, Porter is alleged to have thrown a drink at the 19-year-old before ripping off his wig and punching it in the left side of her face, which caused some swelling that was to be seen at the time a police report was taken. As of this story, Porter has not yet been charged in the matter.

Heading up to Cleveland training camp, Porter was arrested outside Youngstown on a military charge after rolling over his 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE on the highway and officers found a .45- handgun. loaded caliber and suspected marijuana located in the vehicle. The 20-year-old Porter was arrested and charged with improper handling of weapons in a vehicle, along with failure to control and misconduct of marijuana property. Both charges were laid against Porter.

On the first day of training camp, Bickerstaff said his faith in Porter had not waned after he became a cornerstone of the franchise for him the year before.

“Not at all,” said Bickerstaff. “We are in the business of man. And no matter what the ups and downs, it is our duty to look out for each other and to care for each other and try to help each other as well ‘ s we can. And we will continue to do that.

“We will not give up on anyone. We will continue to give people the best opportunity to turn themselves into the best version of themselves that we can until you leave that door, and even then we will maintain a relationship with you and try to help you. if we ever can. We’re all in on all of our boys. That will not change.

“We have a huge interest in people and not just basketball players, so we do what we can to make sure that men grow, that men mature and that men growing as we expect from them and reaching their full potential, not just as basketball players, but as human beings. We will continue to work with our boys along that path. “

Move on so far, and the Cavaliers and Porter do not appear to have reached any level – despite what Bickerstaff, his team and others have publicly supported. It’s been one step forward and then a few steps back for Porter. He failed to put together several good days in a row. At this point, there is a accumulated weakness in Porter ‘s deal for Cleveland and his latest explosion on Friday night was a point of tension due to so many other things.

So it is for the best for Cleveland and Porter to go the different routes. It is going to be difficult for the Cavaliers to find positions of interest for him though. While his latest uprising has grown into a public experience, organizations across the league have been keeping records on Porter from the moment he declared interest in the league. Cleveland could have tried to pack Porter with JaVale McGee or Andre Drummond, who both grew weary when Jarrett Allen arrived, but, it could still be difficult to trade the troubled swingman. That means the Cavaliers let out a more likely Porter and he will try to sign a team in a free agency.

If that happens, Porter will have to land with an organization that has a strong cultural base and leadership of veterans that will build where Cleveland left him by helping him off the court. Because of this, teams like the Miami Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers all make sense for Porter. It’s a shame he couldn’t work it out in Cleveland, though. Porter showed a real taste of potential for the Cavaliers and looked like a draft of a steal for the group. Hopefully his trade-off or release puts things in perspective for Porter and he grows and matures from here for his new team.