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Would Sacramento Kings seriously consider drafting Michael Porter Jr. at No. 2?

Porter Jr. is two things that aren't so easily reconciled — a talent so tantalizing that you could see him giving a Hall of Fame speech someday, and a 19-year-old whose back problems might wind up short-circuiting his budding career.
Courtesy USA Today Sports

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The impatience is easy to understand.

This is what happens when a franchise’s failure is prolonged, when shot after shot falls short and a once-proud fanbase grows more and more frustrated as the years go by. After all, the Sacramento Kings haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006.

Yet as the NBA draft looms on Thursday, and as the Kings continue to see right through all those red flags that surround Missouri's mystery man, Michael Porter Jr., while pondering the fate of their No. 2 pick, it might be time to send a shipment of oxygen masks to the California capital. The hyperventilating about what happens next has long since begun.

Porter Jr. is two things that aren’t so easily reconciled — a talent so tantalizing that you could see him giving a Hall of Fame speech someday, and a 19-year-old whose back problems might wind up short-circuiting his budding career. And while the Kings are hardly the only ones having to decide which story they trust, they are the ones at the front of this line.


Phoenix is widely expected to take Arizona’s Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 pick, and the Kings are known to be focusing on a group that includes Porter Jr., Slovenian guard Luka Doncic and Duke big man Marvin Bagley III. Atlanta is not believed to be considering Porter Jr. with its No. 3 pick, but Memphis still has him on its short list at No. 4 as does Dallas at No. 5. Barring a trade, though, it’s Sacramento up first against all the pressure that comes with this pick.

For anyone who doesn’t bleed purple – and boy oh boy, do they need a tourniquet these days – the backdrop is quite fascinating.

In the past two years, Porter Jr. has gone from a possible No. 1 pick prospect during his days at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle to a walking question mark after he suffered discomfort in the first half of his first college game against Iowa State, which was the result of a fall he suffered two summers earlier while going up for a dunk. The microdiscectomy surgery last November brought with it the widespread belief that his draft stock would plummet because, well, undergoing a procedure to relieve pressure from herniated discs certainly counts as a con.

But now, Porter Jr. and his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, have done enough convincing that multiple top-five teams are still taking this long, hard look. There was an early June group workout in Chicago that left the Kings and everyone else in the building impressed, as Porter Jr. shot the ball very well – albeit in a stand-still setting.

Then there was the second workout, with only lottery teams invited to the session that was seen as a crucial chance to get additional medical information on Porter Jr. The Pro Day was canceled because Porter Jr. was experiencing hip spasms, and then all of a sudden it was back on. In the end, the event took place, with the Kings and Grizzlies known to be among the teams who felt good enough about the latest update that they remained seriously interested.

Yet in the Kings’ case, with a general manager in Vlade Divac who knows as well as anyone how back problems can threaten a career, the fear factor that they are now weighing is a familiar one. Consider this quote from Divac himself back in 1992, six months after he had surgery to repair a herniated disk that would cost him most of his third season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"It was the first surgery in my basketball life," said Divac, who would go on to play 13 more seasons after the procedure for the Lakers, Charlotte Hornets and the Kings. "I was scared in the beginning that I never come back and play like I did before. There was much pressure on me. When I started to work out, I was happy. But when I came back on the court for a game, it was hard. I lost 44 games. I didn't have feeling for the game. That took a long, long time to get back."

For the Kings’ purposes, the Corliss Williamson comparison is far more applicable. Not long after he was drafted 13th overall by the Kings out of Arkansas in 1995, Williamson underwent a back surgery that cost him 29 games in his rookie season.

Yet as was the case with Divac, the early obstacle didn’t derail his career. He went on to play 11 more seasons, averaging 11.1 points and 3.9 rebounds and – like Divac – becoming a fan favorite during his time in Sacramento.

But when it comes to this Porter Jr. situation, the stakes of this decision are on a whole different scale than anything Sacramento has faced in some time. It’s one thing to gamble with the No. 20 pick, like the Kings did last season when they traded for another player with an injury history in Harry Giles. But missing on Porter Jr., with players like Doncic and Bagley available who are widely seen as safer bets, would do the kind of damage that this fanbase simply can’t withstand.

And so they wait – and hyperventilate.

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