Update (6/14, 8:39 a.m.): Report: Michael Porter Jr. canceled his second Pro Day workout because of hip spasms, according to Yahoo's Shams Charania. Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports Porter Jr. has a strained hip.
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Hold onto your hats, it’s going to be a wild week. Twitter was set ablaze Wednesday evening when The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor announced that top tier prospect Michael Porter Jr. has cancelled his multi-team workout Friday in Chicago.
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The Sacramento Kings attended Porter’s pro day in Chicago and had planned on making another trip out to see the 6-11 forward with a smaller group of teams on Friday. With the draft just eight days away, there is still hope that the team will get another look at the Missouri product.
Sacramento holds the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and according to league sources, they have been high on Porter for quite some time.
Porter is part of a small group of players the Kings have invested major time scouting, including European prospect, Luka Doncic, which the team has visited twice in the last three weeks, and Duke’s Marvin Bagley III, who dropped by Sacramento for a workout on Monday.
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Will Porter’s cancellation deter the Kings from selecting the 19-year-old scorer? It’s possible. Sacramento has received initial medical reports from Porter’s team last week, but they were hoping to get a closer look on Friday.
After an incredible high school career, Porter injured his lower back two minutes into his first college game at Missouri. After undergoing microdiscectomy surgery of the the L3-L4 spinal discs, he returned to play two games at the end of the season.
While his potential is off the charts, his injury history has teams anxious about using a top pick on Porter. If the workout isn’t rescheduled or he refuses a last minute trip to Sacramento for examination, the Kings would have to think long and hard about gambling on Porter with the second overall selection.
It’s unlikely that this story has played itself all the way out. Expect a few more twists and turns between now and the June 21 draft.