To help readers get to know top NBA draft prospects, Insider offers a 360-degree look at many of them in a concise and thorough scouting report featuring three expert perspectives: Kevin Pelton (analytics), Fran Fraschilla (scouting) and Chad Ford (NBA front offices). Here's a look at Bobby Portis.
WARP Projection: 2.2 (12th among players in the top 100)
Comparables: Terrence Jones (96.7), LaMarcus Aldridge (96.6), Anthony Bennett (95.7), Brandon Bass (95.6)
Strengths: Shooting, TO%, PF%
Weaknesses: FTA%
The analytics perspective
After a promising freshman season that put him fourth among returning prospects in my preseason draft projections, Portis made the most of his decision to stay for a second season in Fayetteville, taking a solid step forward. Per Sports-Reference.com, mid-major star Cameron Payne was the only sophomore with a better player efficiency rating than Portis this season.
Portis' most similar players are defined by their combination of size, athleticism and shooting ability. While he wasn't much of a college 3-point threat (he attempted 30 triples in 2014-15, making 14 of them), Portis' 73.7 percent free throw shooting suggests he'll become a reliable midrange shooter and maybe more. When he wasn't stretching the four, Portis was causing problems for opponents on the offensive glass. And his hidden skills include low rates of both fouls (2.9 per 40 minutes) and turnovers (2.1), indicating mistake-free play.
-- Kevin Pelton
The scouting perspective
Portis is a valuable commodity in this NBA draft. He is a young big man with good size, some athletic ability, a reliable midrange jump shot and very good motor. Even if he doesn't become an NBA star, he has all the attributes teams look for, which could keep him in the NBA for a decade.
The 20-year-old Portis is a sturdy 6-foot-11, 242 pounds, but is not an explosive athlete by NBA standards. However, he tries to play with energy, runs the floor hard and is a quick second jumper around the basket. And because he establishes good position away from his teammates' shots and "wedges" well, his 14 percent offensive rebound rate this past season was 36th-best in the country.
Another bonus with Portis is his shooting ability for a player his size. While his 47 percent behind the arc came from a small sample size, he did make a healthy 38 percent of his 2-point jump shots this season and they accounted for 53 percent of his attempts. He has also made 74 percent of his free throws in two years as a Razorback.
Although Portis' finishing percentage at the rim was a healthy 75 percent this season, his lack of explosiveness will manifest itself at the NBA level. He'll struggle initially around the rim, in my opinion. But he has a hard-to-block turnaround jump shot that could develop into a good weapon in time because of his touch.
I don't expect Portis to be a rim protector on the defensive end in the NBA. Rather, he'll be called upon to be solid in screen-and-roll coverages and in isolation situations. Because he stays engaged, plays with energy and tries to move his feet, he'll be more than serviceable on that end of the court. And he's been coached not to foul. The effort to be good defensively is there on the tape.
Portis struggled a bit late in the season, but because of his body of work all season (and Kentucky's platoon system) he was voted SEC Player of the Year. I see him drafted in the middle of the first round, meaning it's likely he will end up on a playoff team at worst. Given his age, his size and shooting touch, that team may be getting a gift.
-- Fran Fraschilla
The front-office perspective
Portis is the classic jack of all trades, master of none. He's got good size and length for his position; is a good, but not elite athlete; is a good, but not dominant rebounder and a good, but not lethal, offensive player. He does everything well; nothing great.
That reality means that GMs will have a tough time justifying using a top 10 pick on Portis. They typically want higher ceilings than Portis can offer. But once the we start moving out of the top 10, he seems like a sure thing -- a guy with very few flaws that, at the very least, will have a long career as a solid starter or key rotation player at the four. Look for him to go in the 13-to-20 range.
"He's solid," one scout said of Portis. "And that's not a dig at him. He's solid at everything he does. I don't see a lot of holes in his games. If you want to reach for the stars, this isn't the player. But if you say, 'I want a guy that at the very least will be a solid rotation guy and at the very best will be the fourth- or fifth-best starter on my team,' I don't think you can go wrong.
"And after you get out of the top 10 or 12 in this draft, that's realistically all you're going to get. In fact, it might actually be more than you're going to get from other prospects in his range."
-- Chad Ford