Craig Porter Jr Deal With Cavs Partially Guaranteed, Includes Team Option

CLEVELAND — All that rookie point guard Craig Porter Jr. likely cares about is that his two-way contract was converted to a standard deal.

The Cavs made it official in an announcement on Wednesday.

But if you’re looking for specifics, well, Porter received a four-year contract worth $8 million, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Porter is guaranteed $1.5 million of that this season and guaranteed another $1 million next.

After that, the deal becomes nonguaranteed for the final two years, with a team option for 2026-27, Scotto reported.

Porter, 23, went undrafted out of Wichita State, and as coach JB Bickerstaff said, his contact provides evidence that sometimes, NBA dreams do come true.

He has appeared in 32 games this season and is averaging 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 50.9% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 69.6% from the free-throw line. He was assigned to the Cleveland Charge of the G League for Wednesday’s road game against Grand Rapids.

Porter has a plus-minus of +27. His best game came against the Denver Nuggets in November. The Indiana native put up 21 points and four assists in 24 minutes while shooting 7-of-10 overall and 7-of-7 from the foul line.

While he hasn’t played in seven of the last Cavaliers’ 10 games, he has shown enough promise for Cleveland’s brass to give him a new deal. 

Meanwhile, the Cavs entered Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls at 35-17 and in second place in the Eastern Conference standings. Cleveland’s front office made zero moves at the NBA trade deadline since the team is playing at a high level right now. 

The Cavaliers are 15th in the NBA in points per game and second in points per game allowed. They are 17-2 over their last 19 games and look like legitimate championship contenders for the first time in the second post-LeBron James era. 

Cleveland won 51 games last season but fell to the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in five games. The players are extremely hungry to go on a deep postseason run this year after getting humbled by the Knicks.

Ashish Mathur contributed to this report.

Sources: The Cavaliers signed Craig Porter Jr. to a 4-year, $8 million deal, which is guaranteed for $1.5 million the rest of this season, $1 million for the 2024-25 season, is non-guaranteed the 2025-26 season, is non-guaranteed and includes a team option for the 2026-27 season.

— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) February 14, 2024