Waiting in Washington: After two injuries, Otto Porter's NBA career feels like it's on hold

SALT LAKE CITY -- It's still the same smile and little laugh offered at a question. He still bows his head a little and runs his right hand through his hair when thinking about an answer to a question -- just like he did less than three years ago as a high schooler.

But so much has changed in that short time frame for one of the best basketball players to ever take the court in Southeast Missouri.

A dark red 3XL jersey hangs behind Otto Porter Jr. as he sips on a Gatorade while casually answering questions before a recent game. The familiar No. 22, the same number he donned at Scott County Central, is stitched below PORTER on his Washington Wizards jersey. It's tangible proof that Porter has achieved his goal -- sort of.

"This is paradise to us," he said. "We couldn't ask for better. You get paid to do what you love. This is a dream job, to wake up every day and do what you love. I mean, it's great."

The Wizards selected Porter with the No. 3 pick in last June's NBA draft, but it's been a rocky go for him since then. A pair of injuries -- one to his hamstring and another, much more painful one, to his hip flexor -- forced him to miss most of summer league play as well as training camp and the first 22 games of the season.

"If I would have gone through all that, I feel like I would have been in a pretty good situation," he said. "So instead of playing catch up, you're getting better each and every game, so it did take a toll on me."

Randy Wittman, who has been the Wizards' coach for just more than two years, first offered a conservative assessment of his team's first-round pick.

"When you miss four months -- no training camp, no exhibition, no first 20 games of the season then you get thrown into an NBA game, it's a hard adjustment," Wittman said. "He's just got to continue to stay patient and be ready."

It's the being patient that is so out of the ordinary for the 20-year-old Porter.

Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter is averaging just 1.7 points and 1.5 rebounds a game during his rookie season. (Duane Burleson ~ Associated Press)

Those who have followed him since his days in an SCC jersey know he shines on the biggest stages. He led the Braves to three consecutive state titles. There were the three Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament championships. And who could forget the state-record 35 rebounds in the Class 1 championship game his junior year of high school or the Big East player of the year honors he captured last season?

Fast forward to a Jan. 25 game against the Utah Jazz, a contest the Wizards trail by three points with less than two minutes left. It's a situation tailor-made for Porter, but he's relegated to onlooker. He mills around behind the reserves during a timeout, his warm-ups loosely hanging on his wiry frame. They've been on the entire second half.

"It's pretty tough, but this is a process," Porter said. "My first year, I just got to get accustomed to the new game, the new style of play. That's the main thing."

The Wizards end up falling to the Jazz by six points, and Porter only sees just 3 minutes, 13 seconds of action, all at the end of the first half. He got off one shot, which missed.

That has become too common this season. He's played more than 10 minutes only one time in his last 10 games and did not play in the Wizards' win over Oklahoma City on Saturday. He's averaging 1.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

And that's why Porter doesn't feel like he can savor achieving his dream of playing in the NBA.

"I feel like it hasn't come along yet because it's just the beginning," he said. "I don't want to kind of spoil it yet. I want to build my way up to the top and then look back. It's kind of too early to tell now."

But the scant minutes haven't caused any second-guessing about leaving Georgetown with two years of eligibility remaining.

"I had to leave," said Porter, who will make $4.278 million during his rookie season. "Not saying I don't miss it or anything, but I had to leave."

Porter seamlessly made the adjustment from high school to college. He didn't start right away at Georgetown, but he was an instant contributor. That hasn't been the case in jumping from college to the NBA.

"It's a different mindset," he said. "It's a different style of play. The NBA is different from college ball. You've got to get out of that mentality of college, and now I've got to shift to a newer and learn a newer mentality of NBA ball. It is tough for a lot of college players to transition over, especially when you go to school for one or two years."

Plus he didn't get the chance to work on that transition when many other rookies were making the adjustment during the summer league and preseason. He's tried to keep a positive attitude, which has been noticed by his teammates.

"I just tell him to keep being focused and keep learning from our veteran guys who play your position in Trevor [Ariza] and Martell [Webster]," Wizards all-star John Wall said. "He does a great job getting on those guys. He's always here early, coming in getting his extra work in. I think time will tell with him, but he's always making sure he's getting his work in. He's not sitting back pouting about it."

In fact, Porter dismissed any excuses for his season. He shook his head at the notion that the injuries have made this season a wash.

"I still have a lot of season left," he said. "I still have half a season. It's a lot of games. Anything can happen. I can go from not playing at all to playing a starter. You don't know. I wouldn't rule the season out just yet."

The problem is earning playing time. His coach, Wittman, offered clues to the key to seeing more time on the court.

"You've got to go out and play aggressive at this level," Wittman said. "If you play timid, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb. That's my main focus with him, he's got to go out on the floor and be aggressive in whatever amount of minutes he's getting."

But that aggressiveness doesn't come naturally to Porter. Even in high school he was much more willing to pass to a teammate than pad his own stats. He excelled at Georgetown in a system where he didn't have to take over games, so being aggressive is something he's learning to do.

"It is outside my comfort, but sometimes you got to go outside your comfort zone," Porter said. "That's something I'm just learning."

He said the key is choosing when to be aggressive on the court.

"That just comes with playing," he said. "Missing all the time and not really getting to play to develop that kind of thing, it's hard to do. You can't just come out and do it. It's just something I'm trying to focus on every time I play."

It's not easy to learn on the job when a team selected you with a lottery pick in the draft. There are lofty expectations, which heaps pressure on a player trying to gain his footing.

"You can't put too much pressure on yourself," Porter said. "If the opportunity is there, you just take it upon yourself to take that opportunity to get noticed, to try to help your team win."

Wall knows plenty about that pressure. He was the No. 1 overall pick in 2010.

"Everybody expects something out of you right away," Wall said. "I mean, it's something he's dealing with, not really getting an opportunity to play right now. I know it's frustrating, but I think he'll be fine."

Porter echoes that confidence. He's focusing on the things he can control. There's been talk in the D.C. media about the possibility of Porter being sent to the D-League, the NBA's version of the minor leagues, but that's something Porter said hasn't been mentioned to him.

"Continue to work hard to practice," he said. "And in games, when my opportunity comes, I can try to seize minutes because anything can happen and you want to be prepared and ready for it. That's what I try to do."

Even though the season hasn't followed the path Porter envisioned, he still appreciates his situation. While the emotions of reaching the NBA have dulled slightly, the kid from SCC still gets a special feeling before every game.

"Just putting your team uniform on going out there on the court," he answered when asked the best part of playing in the NBA. "When you're out there playing, you're like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm here.' I watched so many games and guys playing on this court, and when you get out there, it's like now you're officially playing in the NBA."