https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/mizzou_mens_basketball/a-brutal-blow-reactions-to-jontay-porter-s-season-ending/article_cd0b97ca-d636-11e8-a88f-87d2f061382c.html
Ricky O’Donnell, a college basketball editor at SB Nation who writes NBA mock drafts, had Porter at No. 11 on his latest 2019 mock draft, which he wrote last June. He said Monday that Porter’s name certainly wouldn’t be called that early if he still decides to declare for the 2019 draft.
“I guess now, for Jontay, if he got taken in the first round that would be huge. Would a team take him in the first round? It’s possible. It depends how teams evaluated him last season,” O’Donnell told the Missourian.
With many months standing between now and June’s NBA Draft, one might think that Porter has time to prove himself and get back into the lottery. After all, Michael Porter Jr. did just that last season. But O’Donnell said Jontay Porter won’t have that luxury.
“It takes 12 months to recover from an ACL injury, and it’s probably going to take him even longer because he isn’t a particularly impressive athlete,” O’Donnell said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to show anything by April.”
But Porter’s chance to be a lottery pick is not over. He may just have to wait.
O’Donnell is high on Porter. He frequently compares the sophomore to the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, who is currently tearing up the NBA at just 23 years old. Because of that potential, O’Donnell thinks Porter will make it back toward the top of his mock draft, as long as it’s the 2020 edition.