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Kevin Porter Jr. ready to fill big shoes, quicken the pace as Milwaukee Bucks point guard
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- Kevin Porter Jr. ready to fill big shoes, quicken the pace as Milwaukee Bucks point guard
Giannis Antetokounmpo called his shot way back on Feb. 21, bestowing Kevin Porter Jr. as the "steal" of the 2025 NBA trade deadline when the point guard arrived in Milwaukee from the Los Angeles Clippers in a straight one-for-one player swap for MarJon Beauchamp .
In 30 regular-season games with the Bucks after that, Porter began to prove the Bucks superstar right . The 6-foot, 4-inch guard shot 40.8% from behind the 3-point line and 49.4% overall (which would have been by far career-bests) while averaging 11.7 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in less than 20 minutes per game. Porter started just twice with the Bucks last season, and once in their five-game playoff loss to Indiana .
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But that relatively small sample size encouraged both Porter and the Bucks to keep their partnership together over the offseason. Porter opted out of his league-minimum player option and then re-signed for two years, $10.5 million.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. make a pass against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"I mean, we got Giannis," he said with a laugh as to why he wanted to return. "That's one thing. We got a bunch of dogs and guys that are opportunists and that are hungry and I learned a lot just being with a winning organization. Being here just in general with the daily things as a group that has to be done.
"Honestly, it was good coming over here, fast-paced, being surrounded by shooters. I like to pass, of course being a point guard, so everything was kind of easy to fit and jell. The culture of course. I love the Bucks culture. The city and everything. It was easy for me."
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Now, heading into the 2025-26 season, Porter will be given an opportunity to stamp himself as the steal of last February's transaction cycle as the Bucks' starting point guard.
Following the Bucks first training camp practice Sept. 30, Bucks coach Doc Rivers noted the peaks and valleys Porter had gone through in his career, from being given the ball – and the green light – in Houston to missing a season to returning to the NBA primarily a reserve in Los Angeles and Milwaukee last season who shot fewer than nine times per game.
Rivers then said Porter is "now back to starting, and that's a huge responsibility for him to run the team and still be aggressive. That's the hardest thing to do, I think, in basketball is from the point guard (to) understand where and when. It's just hard. So I'm sure at times he'll be great at it and then at times he may struggle at it, but we'll support him and get him right."
Porter averaged 6.0 assists in starting 143 out of 146 games for the Rockets from 2021-23 while also averaging 17.2 points on 14.1 attempted shots.
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Marrying those raw numbers with the increased efficiency Porter displayed with Milwaukee last season is, perhaps, an expectation for what the 25-year-old can do running the show for the new-look Bucks.
And a lot of that will have to do with helping the Bucks play a more dynamic style of offense. A year ago, Porter would come off the bench and offer a change of pace. Now, along with Antetokounmpo, they are expected to set it.
"Now, I can be the one to start it off and get our pace right, get the tempo right and we go from there," Porter said. "There's going to be times where you slow the ball down and there's going to be times you gotta value possession and you gotta get a good play call, but most of the game – pretty much all the game if we can – you gotta get stops and go. That's our identity. At least that's what we want to be."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kevin Porter Jr. ready to fill big shoes as Milwaukee Bucks point guard
