NBA: Five Players Poised To Make The Jump Into Stardom This Season

May 9, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) dunks the ball over Atlanta Hawks forward

(4) in the third quarter in game three of the second round of the NBA Playoffs. at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 103-101. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Otto Porter, Washington Wizards

Otto Porter’s NBA journey has been an interesting one. He started with the high of being the third overall draft pick to the lows of getting injured during training camp and barely playing during his rookie season.

Porter was nearly labeled a bust after his rookie season because he failed to secure minutes on a bad Washington Wizards team.  He went on to play just 37 games his rookie season (no starts) while averaging a pedestrian 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

Fans and some members of the media failed to realize his struggles were due to missing training camp and then being unable to crack the rotation as a rookie. The reality is few rookies are able to miss summer league and training camp and still make an impact during their rookie seasons.

Last season, Porter was stuck behind Paul Pierce on a playoff team, but instead of pouting, he stuck with it and had some huge moments in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors.

Porter shined most in the 13 games he started last season. He averaged 10.2 points in those games while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Also worth noting is that after the All-Star break he bumped his minutes from 18.0 per game to 22.0.

Even with Pierce in the mix, Porter was able to carve out more minutes for himself.

With Pierce gone to Los Angeles, a huge opening for Porter has opened in Washington’s starting five and with it a chance for Porter to solidify himself as part of Washington’s future.

Or, at the very least, a valuable sign-and-trade chip as part of a package for Kevin Durant.

Next: Enes Kanter