ShoutOut for Little Man Tajuan Porter Twice Dumped for NBA Level Upgrades

The saga of guard Tajuan Porter for the 2013-14 season is a tale of the cutthroat nature of professional basketball.  A player can be good, but can be cast aside when a better option comes along. 

Physically, Porter has to use speed and tenacity to make up for his lack of stature.  The 5-7 Oregon product has redeeming qualities for a backcourt option.  He is a decent shooter and on-ball defender.  Other players of similar size can play pro ball.  One particular success story is all-time Skyforce scoring leader David Bailey.  However, Porter seems to suffer from a recent case of bad luck.

Let’s go back to November 2013.  Porter entered the season as property of the Reno Bighorns to start his second campaign in the D-League.  Coming off the bench in 24 games, Porter scored in double figures in 12 contests.  The command performance was on December 20, 2013 with 32 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Rio Grande Valley.

High times didn’t last for Porter as he was the odd-man out when the Bighorns chose to add a former NBA talent and D-League legend Sundiata Gaines in early February.  Gaines is a 6-1 guard who made a big NBA splash when he hit a game winning shot on national television to beat Cleveland back before LeBron James took his talents to South Beach.  No disrespect intended, but how many game-winning shots in the NBA have you made, Tajuan?

Not to worry as Porter was out of work for about a day and a half.  The Sioux Falls Skyforce found that Porter was an upgrade over rookie guard John Allen and plugged a hole on the bench.  Alas, seventeen games later, DeAndre Liggins returned to the fold after two ten-day contracts with the Miami Heat.  Tajuan Porter becomes the odd man out again as he was released by Sioux Falls on Tuesday.  That’s got to hurt.  At least he can say it took NBA-level talent to knock him off the roster