Michael Porter, Jr. and Landry Shamet join NBA ranks
For the second consecutive year, the Show-Me State has produced two first round selections in the National Basketball Association Draft.
Former Father Tolton All-American Michael Porter, Jr. was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the No. 14 pick in the draft. Later in the first round, former Park Hill standout Landry Shamet was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 26 pick after a very successful season at Wichita State.
A McDonald’s All-American and top player nationally in the Class of 2017, the 6’10” Porter is one of the top individual talents in the draft class, but he fell to the end of the lottery over concerns about a back injury that limited him two just two games last season with the University of Missouri. If healthy, Porter projects to be a future NBA All-Star performer.
Porter will be joining a Nuggets team that finished with a 46-36 record and just missed the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference on the final day of the season. A healthy Michael Porter, Jr. would definitely help the Nuggets take that next step into the postseason and become a factor in the West in the future.
The 6’4″ Shamet became the first Wichita State player to be selected in the first round since 1985 when former Shocker Xavier McDaniel was taken by the Seattle Supersonics and went on to win the Rookie of the Year award. Shamet is a big point guard with excellent shooting ability from 3-point range. He declared for the NBA after his redshirt sophomore season at Wichita State.
As a sophomore, Shamet averaged 14.9 points and 5.2 assists a game while shooting 44 percent from beyond the 3-point line. He will be joining a Philadelphia team that finished 52-30 last season and is on the fast-track to being one of the top contending teams in the years to come.
The selections of Porter and Shamet make it back to back years that two players from the state of Missouri were selected in the first round. Former Chaminade College Prep All-American Jayson Tatum was selected by the Boston Celtics with the No. 3 pick while former Jefferson City standout OG Anunoby was taken by the Toronto Raptors at No. 23. Both were instrumental as rookies for very successful teams.
Tatum was selected to the NBA’s All-Rookie Team after helping lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals, where they pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games. Onunoby became a starting forward and key player for the Raptors, who won 59 games and had the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference.
Another former Show-Me State product who is looking to hook on to a NBA roster is former CBC and University of Missouri standout Jordan Barnett, who went undrafted, but will join the Milwaukee Bucks for the upcoming summer league competition. The 6’8″ Barnett also received an invitation to the Bucks’ training camp.
As a senior at Mizzou, Barnett averaged 13.7 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range, 45 percent from the field and 89 percent from the free throw line. He is considered an excellent 3-and-D player who can knock down 3-pointers with the athleticism to defend on the perimeter.