Kristaps Porzingis impressed on the stat sheet in EuroBasket competition, averaging 20.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks while shooting 66.7% on two pointers in an impressive 27 minutes a night.
But Porzingis's stat line was misleading, according to Brian Windhorst's trusted scouts. Windhorst, in his usual cautious tone, warned that he "wouldn't say the scouts came home raving about how Porzingis looked." He qualified this statement with the disclaimer that this was not his opinion, but he's "trusting the pros on that."
Still, Porzingis's subpar performance is noteworthy. To American basketball fans, it can be difficult to gauge a European player's performance in international play. Without the context of knowing the quality of the competition, the health of the team, and the off-court factors surrounding the game, it is impossible to make an accurate read on a game.
This appears to be the case with Porzingis. While many were impressed with his performance, he obviously was playing against low-level competition relative to the NBA game. Scouts have come to expect a higher level of play from the big man in international play.
What should we expect from Porzingis next season
The most important part of Porzingis's performance, as Tim Bontemps replied to Windhorst, is that the big man was healthy. Porzingis played in all five games, including a back-to-back, and looked mostly game-ready. While he struggled physically in the late minutes against Serbia, he played 33 of the 40 minutes available and looked ready to tackle an NBA season.
In case you forgot, Porzingis battled post-viral syndrome last season. He finished his Boston Celtics tenure on a forgettable note, averaging just 15.5 minutes a night in his final postseason series for the club.
Porzingis has been shockingly candid through his battle with post-viral syndrome, admitting at the end of EuroBasket that he is not 100% despite feeling much better than he did this postseason. This leaves the Hawks with a complicated set of data to comprehend. On one hand, he was ostensibly healthy and even dominant at times. On the other hand, Porzingis wasn't as good as he usually is in European competition and admits he is not where he would like to be physically.
Trusting Porzingis's personal accounts, he should be 100% by the start of the NBA season. He used June and July to recover, trained with Latvia in August, and competed at a high level in September. By the end of October, he should be able to reach his peak physical condition.
While scouts may have been disappointed in Porzingis's performance, the reality is that even a hobbled Porzingis brings more to the Hawks than any center has since Al Horford led the team to 60 wins. What is most important is that Porzingis played more than 75% of Latvia's minutes and looked good in a back-to-back. If the Hawks can get that from their new acquisition, the team should be willing to accept a subpar performance in EuroBasket.