2028 Hall of Fame Nominee: Kristaps Porzingis

[Rog]

The 108th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, Kristaps Porzingis, was one of those players who was picked high, had crazy good ratings, and looked on his way to superstardom before becoming a really good player but not quite living up to his hype. Was he good enough still to be a Hall of Famer, or do his flaws push him out? Lets take a look. 

Career Stats
34 MPG, 20.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.0 BPG, 1.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 2.1 TOPG on 43.5% from the field, 88.9% from the line, and 44.6% from three

Best Season
Minnesota Timberwolves(2017) - 26.0 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 2.1 BPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 2.2 TOPG on 45.3% from the field, 94.5% from the line, and 46.3% from three

Career Highs
Points: 48
Rebounds: 25
Assists: 10
Steals: 6
Blocks: 10

Career Leaderboard Rankings
Points - 63rd
Rebounds - 42nd 

Awards
2015 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2015 - All-Rookie Team
2016 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2016 - All-Star Game Participant
2018 - All-Star Game Participant
2022 - All-Star Game Participant
2025 - All-Star Game Participant



Arguments For Induction
- Krstaps Porzingis was a four time All-Star during his 14 year career. 

- Similar to Jabari Parker, Kristaps was an elite scorer for a power forward, averaging 21 points per game. After a somewhat slow start, he averaged 26 points per game in his 4th season, 6th season after being drafted, and then for eight seasons in a row he averaged 20 points per game or better. Including his 3rd season of his career where he averaged 19.9 points per game, Kristaps had ten total seasons in a row with 20 points or better. Amazing consistency in scoring for a big in this league. 

- Kristaps was also an overall versatile scorer, shooting 43.5% from the field, which isn't great overall its a decent number for a stretch big type in FBB. He was a knock down mid range shooter and was an elite free throw shooter, shooting 88.9% from the line for his career. And finally, he shot 44.6% from three, taking over 2500 in his career making him a damn near elite three point shooter. 

- Kristaps was also a nice rebounder, though wasn't amazing. For a guy spending the majority of his time on the perimeter and being known more for that part of his game than anything, averaging nearly 11 rebounds per game for his career is a pretty nice number. 

- He was a pretty solid defender overall too, averaging nealry 3 stocks a game over his career, and normally being in the 3.3+ range. He also carried an "A-" or better rating for the majority of his career, proving he was a solid overall defender. 

- Overall, a 20 point, 12 rebound, 3 stock, big that carried than "A-" defensive rating for his career is a tough case to deny induction. Add that to his efficiency and number of All-Star Game appearances and you have yourself a surefire Hall of Famer or not?

Arguments Against Induction
- Once again, you point to his awards and wonder why there isn't more than there is, and more varied awards than just All-Star appearances. We've denied players with more awards than this in the past. 

- He was a sub-average rebounder, point blank period. Sure he was more perimeter player than post player, but he still was a power forward and that position regardless is responsible for 12+ rebounds. That is a huge negative to not reach that mark. 

- Speaking of requirements from positions despite player types, he may have been a scoring big who plays on the perimeter, but he still was expected to be a rim protecter given his size and position, but he barely averaged 2 blocks a game for his career. Thats rough as well. And defensively he was awful. Trust me, I scouted him. He was god awful. He was average at a number of things and it adds up to a not good defender. 

- Other than his scoring, what does he have? Honestly. He didn't rebound well, didn't defend well, had a negative assist to turnover rating, mostly due to the fact that he just didn't pass the ball well. Sure he scored well, but is that enough to be a Hall of Famer? I dont think so, but that is just one persons opinion. You make your own choice. 

***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***

[Rog]

Kristaps Porzingis Player Page

[kipper]

To me this is a no. Looking at his career stats, he has more points per game than Parker and slightly more blocks as well. But under 11 rebounds per game, vs the 12.3 of Parker. Parker is already on the line of a no for me, just sitting on it and I wouldn't be upset if he was declined. So Porzingis to me misses the cut. Even if he has more all star game appearances, he still doesn't have very good overall stats. He even got less player of the game than Parker. A single player of week vs the 5 of Parker.

[pjclippers]

Voted no on this one as well - to me, his lack of rebounding is the dealbreaker as is his fairly low FG% for a post player

[Charles]

Unicorns suck.

Voted no.

[Rog]

Also no for me. Just not enough here to make a justifiable case to me.

[buckeyeballa10]

Like kipper touched on, I think he and Parker are pretty comparable. Not an exact comparison, but pretty damn close. Main thing that sticks out for Parker, is his awards that he has over Porzingis. I also think that Parker was a very borderline vote, so based on his lack of awards (only a 4x all star, nothing else to speak of) I am going to vote No.

Was a damn good scorer though, and its worth noting that without his last two years as a backup in Cleveland, his PPG would prob be a few points higher.

[vanimmer]

no for me

[afro]

No for me as well 

[JCog72]

No from me, loved him as a MLE player and a big off the bench that could score and rebound. But I don’t think he had a HOF worthy career

[frosty]

Voted no he looks like a hall of very good player.

[verlasco]

no for me, lack of rebounds and low FG%

[nfields21]

Voted no here, much like Oubre a very nice player and someone you'd want on your squad, but not an all time NBN great

[A. Silver]

No, I'd barely want him on my team...decent starter, but not a championship level player and certainly not a HOFer.

[rr1582]

While I like the fact that he has multiple ASG appearances scattered throughout his career, his #'s fall short for me...especially when you look at the fact that throughout his career he really couldn't be counted on as a driving force to his teams success.