It was unclear what, if any, role Otto Porter Jr. would play for the Utah Jazz when he was acquired in the transaction that sent Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Toronto Raptors.
Is he a potential buyout target? Would the Jazz pass him over? Or would he be on the Jazz’s roster? All of those were valid questions.
However, Porter’s health appears to be the main concern now that he is in Utah.
Throughout his career, Porter has suffered a number of ailments. However, in November 2022, he underwent season-ending surgery on his left foot just eight games into the season after signing a two-year contract with the Raptors.
Though he was brought along gradually, not playing back-to-back games and stepping up his play at the beginning of the season, it appeared like he would be a regular member of the Raptors’ rotation this season. However, he sprained his right knee in December.
The Raptors appeared to have moved on by the time Porter accrued DNPs and was cleared to play again. He last participated in a game on December 30.
He’s not fully healthy right now, which we knew,” Zanik said. “We’ll see how that goes. Love having him around so if he’s healthy and returns, that’s OK. I think he’s a good veteran influence. It just kind of depends, we’re still trying to figure out how healthy he is.”
I then asked Porter about his health and got a very different answer.
“I’m OK, health-wise,” Porter said. “Few things here and there from being with Toronto, but for the most part, pretty decent.”
Porter even said that he felt like he was ready to play in the Jazz’s next game. That was a pretty big departure from what Zanik had said, so I mentioned that to Porter and things got even more confusing.
“Just got to figure some things out as far as my health,” Porter said. “There’s some things that I just can’t go into detail with, but with the new training staff here, they should be able to get me back.”
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