FanPost

Why you can't blame Otto Porter's "audacity" to ask for a max contract

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s rare when a player could garner as much disdain for playing just as the scouting report details. Otto Porter didn’t disappoint. He was behind expectations after his rookie year, but he recovered to be a solid contributor and made improvements every year. However, Otto plays in a manner that would either make basketball fans fall asleep, forget he’s on the floor or seethe in anger because he doesn’t play like the archetype small forward. He’s a glue guy but not a star. Porter may not be in the top 10 lists of his position but could be the starter for over half the teams in the league. He fills a stat sheet when others want him to fill the highlight reel. And now to the dismay of critics, Porter is going to get his pay raise.

For all the "shock" that occurred recently, there was a consensus that Porter would receive the max offer if not from the Wizards then another franchise. It should not come to surprise to anyone because teams will gamble on players who improve (if steadily) across their careers. It is why the Dallas Mavericks are succeeding so far with their commitment to Harrison Barnes. Barnes had worse stats than Porter, even if he played on a superior team.

If someone wants to get mad that a team in the position like the Sacramento Kings when they gave Porter a max offer, let us not forget the 6 year/ $60 million dollar contract the Wizards made to Gilbert Arenas in 2003. Yeah, that was the Wizards throwing big money at another team’s restricted free agent with a 37-45 record, not too dissimilar to Sacramento’s 32-50 record. It’s how free agency operates. Teams are gambling money on young players that look like potential franchise stars or up-and-comers that can become one. For the Wizards fanbase, it was more of a shock that another team felt he was worth the max when the team while their fanbase didn’t.

But let’s talk about offers now that one is front and center in the Wizards front office. Personally, I didn’t think much of the "aggressive" offer the organization supposedly made. Adjectives like "aggressive" mean that they didn't offer a max deal with a Samuel Jackson-eqsue stare. If it was a max offer, the organization would say "max offer" and Porter would have likely signed. But it wasn’t, so Porter went searching with the premise that the Wizards would match any offer. So now that they’re here what can they do?

In my opinion, it’s dependent on Scott Brooks:

  • If Brooks is confident that Porter can continue his improvement in a similar fashion as Beal, then the Wizards will match. However, that would entail Porter to have a much larger part in the team offensive gameplan. This means giving Porter the green light to shoot more than the 10 FGA in the regular season and 8.4 FGA in the postseason. Porter will have to be a more selfish player.
  • However, if Brooks thinks this all he can get from Porter and the front office doesn’t want to jump into the luxury tax tied to Porter then they need to do one of two things. They better have Gordon Hayward on speed dial and take a page from the Dan Snyder playbook of "wining & dining top free agents". Or they should prepare a match & trade offer to increase depth along the bench like the Boston Celtics. Front court depth is preferred.

At Porter’s age-24 season he's still not in the prime of his career. Porter, however, is dependent on the point guard since he has a few shot-creating moves on his own.

While there are those who believe he is an average player without John Wall, that same argument can be applied to almost every player that played and benefitted along Wall. That is testament to Wall instead of a slight to Porter. Just as the organization was faced with last year with Beal, they must decide if Porter is worth the max contract risk. This comes with the expectation of franchise level production which Porter is unlikely to display unless he is the onus of a team’s offensive game plan.

So, for no fault of his own, Otto is a hotly debated player for playing the unselfish he’s known for in an era of NBA where individual greatness reigns supreme. For Porter to live up to this contract, he will have to be more selfish and take more shots. Otto is a victim of the expectations that comes with the new contracts from the CBA and the poor managing of salary cap space by Ernie Grunfel (*cough* Mahinmi *cough*). The terms have been set and Porter will get his raise. The question remains is whether the Wizards will step up and match the deal or balk and go elsewhere. But none of the vitriol should go to player who dares ask for a raise.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.