Bobby Portis
A 6’11”, 246-pound power forward out of Arkansas, Bobby Portis is exactly what the Suns need on paper. At 20 years old, Portis already has a versatile game as a potential stretch-four (and maybe even a small-ball five).
In his final season with the Razorbacks, he averaged 17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from three-point range. Portis projects as a stretch-four with NBA range at the next level, but it should be noted his excellent three-point percentage came on only 30 attempts for the whole season.
During the first shooting drill that was available to the media, Portis went 8-for-20 from downtown despite getting off to a rocky start. His shot release is a bit unorthodox and it takes him a while to set it up, but a stretch-four that can knock down NBA threes at a 40 percent clip is no joke:
As you can see from the video, Portis usually either knocks down the three or misses it badly. His release was also extremely slow. But if he’s able to spread the floor with a more consistent shot, his Kevin Garnett-like intensity will be another added plus to a young team that could certainly use it.
By now, most people know about Portis’ rough upbringing that’s played a factor in his fierce competitive spirit. When he was younger, Portis’ mother was a victim of domestic violence from his mother’s boyfriend, and after stepping in between them at age 15, Portis’ pregame ritual now revolves around envisioning someone hitting his mother so he can take that anger out on the court.
“Because of a tough upbringing coming from Little Rock, having to go through the things I went through, that kind of made me put all my passion into basketball, make that a way out for me to not think about the things I went through,” he said. “Domestic violence, my mom having to go through things like that; for me, having to move out of six, seven houses as a kid, not having a stable home until my 10th grade year, for any kid that’s kind of tough.”
“The biggest thing was not having a dad, that was tough kind of tough on me because I would always go to the park and see my friends on the swings with their dads, they’re throwing footballs and I didn’t have anyone to throw me a football. As a young man, that kind of made me grow up quicker than most kids have to grow up.”
That being said, Portis doesn’t let the events of his past affect his game negatively. In fact, he said he’s been more open to the media during this whole draft process, focusing on just being himself. His vibrant personality was on full display when he was asked a question about his effective but admittedly “funky” shot release:
“Honestly I don’t know how I started shooting like that,” he said, laughing. “In high school I kind of shot right here above my forehead and I kind of tried in college, you know, coach Anderson told me ‘Bobby you’re gonna shoot the ball harder,’ so then I started shooting the ball hard and it started going behind my head a little bit. He would call my shot funky or ugly but if it goes it I can’t complain!”
Between his competitive fire, his down-to-earth personality, his potential to stretch the floor with a three-point shot and his ability to own the glass, the Suns could do much worse than Bobby Portis at No. 13. Portis also mentioned his connection with Suns shooting guard Archie Goodwin, another native of Little Rock who played with Portis when they were younger.
Portis believes his playing style would be a great fit for the Suns based on his time under head coach Mike Anderson at Arkansas.
“I think it fits in perfect,” he said. “You know, just because with coach Anderson, I played at Arkansas and we played a ’40 Minutes of Hell’ type of game, up and down tempo, and that’s something that the Suns play as well — try to push the ball and get easy transition buckets.”
Next: Kevon Looney