Mark Bennett: Craig Porter climbs toward big NBA opportunity

Aug. 17—A youngster hustled, dribbled, defended and shot with a special knack for basketball on the Terre Haute Boys and Girls Club court in the early 2000s.

Bobby Moore, the club's CEO and longtime staffer, spotted that enhanced gift for the game in little Craig Porter Jr.

"Craig was kind of a tiny kid, very aggressive and an excellent basketball player," Moore recalled Thursday.

Nearly two decades later, Porter stands on the brink of becoming just the fourth Terre Haute-born player to play in the National Basketball Association. He's a free agent guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers, trying to make the NBA club's 15-man, regular-season roster. He's got a good chance.

"It's kind of surreal, coming from Terre Haute and just being that underdog and going through everything I've been through and getting to the point I'm at right now is just a blessing," Porter said Monday by phone from Cleveland.

"And that's something to be playing against a lot of great players, high expectations, and just going out there and doing what I do, it's been so much fun and just a dream come true."

Porter would be the first native Hautean in the NBA since Dexter Shouse suited up for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1989-90 season. Bobby "Slick" Leonard played for three NBA teams from 1956 to '63, and Kurt Rambis — born here in 1958 before his family moved to California a couple years later — played for five teams from 1981 to '95.

A handful of legendary players grew up in Terre Haute but were born elsewhere, namely Naismith Hall of Famer and Petersburg-born Clyde Lovellette (in the NBA from 1953 to '64), North Dakota-born Duane Klueh (1949-51), Anderson-born Terry Dischinger (1962-65 and '67-73), Rockford, Illinois-born Brian Evans (1996-99) and Buffalo, New York-born Greg Oden (2007-2014).

The 23-year-old Porter signed a free agent contract in June with the Cleveland Cavaliers and then helped the Cavs win the championship of the NBA's Summer League — a proving grounds for the leagues' young players and rookies. Porter played with an all-around versatility, turning heads in NBA circles.

As a result, Porter has a solid chance see action with the Cavs during the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season and beyond.

"I think the sky's the limit for him as he gets bigger and stronger, and he's got a great instinct for the game," Moore said. "And you can't teach that."

Porter hit nearly half of his shots, while averaging 12 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and just under and one steal per game as the Cavs finished a perfect 6-0 in the Summer League, capped by a 99-78 victory over the Houston Rockets in the title game.

The undrafted, 6-foot-2, 178-pound Porter's performance, while directing his team's offense as point guard, may have surprised NBA followers, but not himself.

"No, honestly," Porter said Monday by phone from Cleveland. "It took a team effort, and that's kind of how my stats just kind of showcased that all-around game, not just for me but my teammates, as well."

Porter wasn't picked in the two-round NBA Draft on June 22, but he got a call with an impressive offer from the Cavs minutes after the draft ended. He answered that call in Terre Haute, surrounded by his family.

"They were more happy than me," Porter recalled. "They were jumping up and down, screaming. They were super excited because they know everything that I've done to get here. They were just so proud of me. It's just a big thing for not only me, but for my family."

The Cavaliers offered Porter a "two-way" free-agent contract. Such contracts allow NBA teams to keep undrafted players with fewer than four years of NBA experience basically on a retainer, without having to sign them to a full-time deal. Porter could likely spend part of this upcoming season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs' NBA G League affiliate (like a major league baseball farm club).

But Porter could also play up to 50 regular-season games with the Cavs. Heady stuff for a guy who played at Terre Haute South, Vincennes University and then Wichita State.

"There's a reason that we selected him for a two-way contract, because of a lot of things he did at Wichita State that we were really impressed with," Mike Gerrity, coach of the Cavs' Summer League team and the Cleveland Charge, said by phone last week of that contract. That deal guarantees Porter $551,000 in his first year, the Wichita Eagle reported.

Porter then displayed his skills as a playmaker, scorer, defender and floor leader in the Summer League.

"Summer League gave us coaches and gave people in Cleveland a great idea of who Craig is," Gerrity said. "We have a lot of excitement about his potential for our organization in the future."

Porter's path to this point began in Terre Haute, including as a South Brave. He played two varsity seasons at South and isn't among the school's top 10 all-time scorers, yet he's highly likely to become just the second Braves player in the NBA, joining Evans, who played for Orlando, Minnesota and the New Jersey Nets.

Porter's fondest South basketball memory is a sectional championship his senior year.

"The year before I felt like we had one of the best teams that came through there," Porter said, "but we didn't get to accomplish [a sectional title]. But we got to make up for it the next year, so that made it even more special for me."

He then played two seasons at Vincennes University, leading the Trailblazers to 62 wins in 69 games and the 2019 National Junior College Athletic Association championship. That opened the eyes of numerous big-time NCAA Division I programs, and he picked fast-rising Wichita State. Porter played three seasons (with the NCAA's extra COVID-19 year) as a Shocker and became the first WSU player ever to lead the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

NBA scouts and coaches took notice, including Gerrity, who watched lots of Porter's Wichita State highlights. Those attributes manifest again once Porter joined the Cavs and shined in the Summer League.

"He just impacts the game in so many ways," Gerrity said. "One of the things I was so impressed with, him being a point guard, is his ability to run a team. And I just saw him getting better and better and more comfortable each game as it went on."

Now, Porter is honing facets of his game, trying to get physically stronger, being self-assured to shoot 3-pointers when he's open, and preparing to learn from Cleveland's veteran guards, such as All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Porter wants to suit up alongside those vets.

"Obviously, [I want to] make that 15-man roster, get my foot in the door, and really after that wherever God's plan takes me," he said. "Obviously, I want to play as much as possible, but really doing whatever I can to help us win because even before I got here I felt like this was a team that could obviously win the championship, the NBA Finals."

Cleveland finished an impressive 51-31 last season, but lost to the Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The underdog kid from Terre Haute then hopes for more seasons and a long pro career.

"I do, whether it all be in the NBA or wherever it will be," he said. "I feel like I'll be playing basketball for a very, very long time. So, I've got to make sure my body's able to withstand all of that, because it's not going to be easy. I've got to cherish it."

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.