re: Portis/Qualls NBA combine and draft discussion

Portis seems to be making an impression.

From Chad Ford:

Bobby Portis is a hustler

I've been writing all year that Portis does everything well, but nothing great. I need to revise that statement.

After digging through more video of him over the past month and then watching him again in workouts, I do think there is something Portis does that's elite -- he hustles. He's a pretty low-key young man when you talk with him, but roll out the basketball and there are very few bigs in the game who play as hard as Portis does on both ends of the floor. That motor was evident in his workout here in Chicago. Despite being the biggest guy on the floor, he out hustled everyone here and really set the tone for the other players on the court. He also shot the ball very, very well for a big man. His shot release is a bit unorthodox (he let's it go from behind his head) but it goes in -- a lot.

Even his NBA 3-point stroke looked polished. To me, Portis is one of the lowest risk players in the draft. His ceiling might not be incredibly high (though there are enough pieces there physically and skills wise to make me rethink that) but his floor is very, very high. He's so fundamentally sound, I have a hard time seeing how a player with his size, motor and all-around game fails in the NBA. For a drafting team that simply cannot afford miss on a player, he's a very good pick. No. 13 to No. 20 continues to feel like the proper range for him in the draft.