Player Facts
Height: 7'3"
Weight: 240lbs.
Wingspan: 7'6"
Date of Birth: Aug. 2, 1995
College Experience: N/A
Selections
All Star: 1
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0
Player Grades
Speed/Explosiveness: 7
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 10
Positional Wingspan: 10
Paint Scoring: 9
Midrange Scoring: 8
Three-Point Scoring: 8
Dribbling: 7
Passing: 4
Perimeter Defense: 5
Interior Defense: 9
Rebounding: 9
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STRENGTHS
Intro
A towering presence at 7'3" with a 7'6" wingspan, Porzingis' nickname of the "Unicorn" comes from the fact that he brings such a unique skill set at his size. He is a prolific outside shooter and possesses a solid handle for a big man. While Kristaps is taller than most centers, he mirrors more of a guard in terms of his offensive repertoire while having some elite rim protection chops.
Working from the Elbow
Kristaps can isolate from the elbow area of the floor and is particularly adept at using the glass for bank shots. He has a refined face-up game, reading his opponent and rising as soon as their hands come down.
Even with a good contest, very few defenders have the size to get into Porzingis' airspace to bother the shot. When he is calm and under control here, he will make the shot.
After struggling to abuse mismatches earlier in his career, added strength and patience have helped him improve markedly in these spots. Smalls that find themselves sealed by KP now need to urgently call extra help over for fear of being put under the basket or simply shot over. This can lead to positive trickle-down effects for the Boston offense.
Back to the Basket
Porzingis exhibits some skill out of the post. Though he prefers to operate on the perimeter even to a fault at times, he remains an option with his back to the basket. He doesn't require a mismatch to shoot over the top with such a high release point. Kristaps complements his size with a selection of viable post moves such as turnaround jumpers and one-handed shot fakes.
Pick-and-Roll Game
Within the screen-and-roll, Kristaps most frequently plays the part of the popping big. He has done some more rolling up arriving with the Celtics to help diversify his game here. He's become a nice target for Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown.
He does well to float into open space along the perimeter for a clean look at a three. As such a skilled big, he can put the ball on the floor and attack the closeout or even take a one-dribble sidestep for a more open jumper. 2023-2024 saw him nail 1.9 above-the-break threes per game on 38.5%, landing him squarely in the company of guards rather than big men.
Sharpshooting Big
Porzingis is so effective in operating beyond the arc because his man tends to be uncomfortable defending that far out. By quickly slipping the screen and maneuvering into space, Porzingis is taking his man out of their comfort zone.
Off the catch here, he has several options at his disposal. Pulling the trigger on a three is well within his wheelhouse, but his polished catch-and-go game serves to exploit the clumsy closeouts of opposing bigs.
The long-range shooting prowess of Porzingis extends to his off-ball worth. Not only is he dependable to drain the shot but his deeper-than-normal range with that threat provides even more floor spacing. In 2023-2024, he knocked down just under 39% of his spot-up triples.
Additionally, he moves well without the basketball, yet another facet of his game that parallels a wing or guard. Unlike most perimeter players, however, Kristaps can finish these curls and cuts with vicious alley-oop dunks.
Finishing Strong
As an interior finisher, Kristaps is effective, just as you would expect a player of his size to be. Remarkably, he does so while leaning more upon finesse than his size. Porzingis has impressive body control in the air and in general, is a much more fluid and graceful athlete than his height was suggested.
Porzingis even has soft touch on floaters and (at times awkward) leaning push shots along the baseline. In 2023-2024, he hit a marvelous 73.7% of his attempts inside the restricted area.
He gets the line pretty well as opponents hack him on the shoulders and arms as they reach up to contest the shot. He's around an 80% shooter from the charity stripe, a desirable figure from your power forward/ center. On occasion, Kristaps will show flashes of his leaping ability and throw down a thunderous dunk through contact.
Porzingis keeps his turnovers low through various habits. For one, he keeps his offense simple with a primarily linear motion toward the hoop. Moreover, he has good ballhandling skills at 7'3" which limits defenders' opportunities to strip him.
In transition, Kristaps runs the floor hard to make himself an open target for the ball-handler. His high motor in these situations allows him to beat opposing bigs down the court with regularity. Also, he's liable to aggressively seal his man in semi-transition, gaining deep post position early in the shot clock.
Rebounding + Defensive Contributions
Kristaps is a good rebounder on both ends of the court. When he dials it up, he can be a true force on the glass. Furthermore, he cleans up his teammates' misses well, to the tune of 1.4 points per game in 2023-2024 putback opportunities.
On the defensive side, he does several positive things for his squad. For instance, he is a solid post defender and merely needs to put his hands up to provide ample resistance. After being quite foul-prone earlier in his career, Kristaps has become increasingly more disciplined at going vertical to stay out of foul trouble.
Porzingis is mobile for his size on defense. He fluidly backpedals to contain pick-and-rolls for example. Furthermore, Kristaps doesn't get exposed often when defending a perimeter player in space. Following a switch, he shuffles his feet and employs his 7'6" wingspan to disturb opponents.
Paint Protection
At the core of Kristaps' defensive value is his rim protection. In transition, he showcases his athleticism to collect chase-down blocks in the vein of a young LeBron James. In the half-court, he blocks and alters several shots on a nightly basis. After getting beat off the dribble by quicker players, Porzingis turns his hips to the sideline and runs hard with his long strides to recover.
As the help defender, he is smart when timing his rotations into the paint. Knowing he's so long and quite quick, Kristaps can wait until the player commits to the shot before coming over to erase it. In 2023-2024 he caused players in his vicinity to shoot a massive 13.7% lower than their typical average inside of six feet.
WEAKNESSES
Mediocre Playmaking + Injuries
Porzingis is a mediocre playmaker. He is blind to several cutters every night that would lead to easy baskets. While sustaining moderate mid-career growth here, he has still never even reached the 3.0 assists per game threshold in his career.
Moving on, the 7'3" Latvian has been plagued by a host of injuries that have kept him off the floor across his career. His body type is an outlier even by NBA standards, exposing him to some additional injury risk with such long, thin-ish extremities. Also, the host of leg injuries he's suffered from have caused him to become a bit stiffer on defense as compared to some earlier career days.
Offensive Complacency
He can get complacent and lack aggression on the offensive side of the ball. Specifically, this is visible when he continuously opts to shoot jumpers despite holding a sizable height advantage over his man. While jump shooting is Kristaps' bread-and-butter on offense, he would benefit from mixing in more post-ups and paint attempts.
Susceptible to Bulk
Though he has put on substantial muscle mass over his career, he can still get taken advantage of in the post by bruising bigs. Players like Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Nikola Jokic all have sizable weight advantages which zaps Porzingis' effectiveness here. Luckily for him, the vast majority of opponents he meets in the post do not possess the blend of bulk and touch that the aforementioned names do.
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