It wasn’t long ago that some people unfairly labeled Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter a “bust”. The former third overall pick had dealt with numerous injuries early in his career and was forced to play behind Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster.

When he did get a chance to play, Porter looked weak and certainly didn’t fit the bill of an “NBA ready” prospect that most pundits thought he was coming out of Georgetown.

His confidence was shot and Randy Wittman didn’t seem ready to play the prospect that he had his eye on the entire summer. Really, it felt like the Washington Wizards had entered another Jan Vesely situation.

Last year, Porter rarely got any playing time during the regular season despite having a fantastic run during the NBA Summer League circuit. Washington had signed Paul Pierce to replace Ariza in the starting lineup and Rasual Butler was putting up NBA Jam numbers from three.

Eventually, Butler fell back down to reality and Porter was given the chance to play. When he did, he took the ball and ran with it, never looking back.

His confidence was boosted and Porter finally started to look like a third overall pick.

He knocked down clutch shots, got timely baskets inside and always seemed to make an impact during key moments.

During the playoffs, Porter averaged roughly 10 points and 8 rebounds in over 33 minutes per game.

He had played just 19 minutes per game during the regular season.

After making a positive impact in the playoffs, helping the Wizards advance to the semi-finals for the second straight season, Washington’s brass had confidence in Porter and weren’t going to break the bank to keep Pierce on the roster at the end of his career. Instead, they handed the starting small forward keys over to Otto Porter.

Now, even as a supporter of Porter — someone who believed he’d eventually break out when given the chance (I’m the self proclaimed leader of the #FreeOtto movement, after all) — I was still afraid that Washington was throwing him out there too soon.

Porter’s improvement was evident and Pierce’s presence both on and off the floor helped give him the confidence he needed. Honestly, I’m not quite sure that any other player would’ve had such an impact on Porter. For that, we should be forever grateful. Still, there were some question marks surrounding Porter.

The sample size on his solid play just wasn’t good enough, yet Washington believed in him to make him a starter.

Once Jared Dudley and Alan Anderson went down, it was really up to Porter to keep the boat afloat. We’re just 9 games into the season, and so far, he’s done exactly what he’s needed to.

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Porter has become an efficiency monster, despite not shooting nearly as well from deep as he’s capable of shooting.

He’s been atop the NBA in finishing inside and he’s hitting nearly 90 percent of his free throws. Unlike the past few seasons, Porter hasn’t been hesitant to bring the ball up the floor when the guards aren’t in position to handle it. In fact, he’s connected with the bigs and has even run some pick-and-roll with Marcin Gortat.

Not only are his numbers up across the board, but Porter is playing like someone who’s capable of being the third best player on the Washington Wizards’ roster.

I’ve heard people talk about his ceiling, often calling him a “glue-guy”, but he’s capable of being much more than that. Once he finds his rhythm from deep, there’s no reason why Porter can’t average 15+ points while posting above average player efficiency numbers.

Porter is setting himself up to be one of the top contenders for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. Players like C.J. McCollum, Andrew Wiggins and, of course, Andre Drummond will also be in contention for the award. Regardless, the Washington Wizards seem to have another young star on their hands. Now it’s just a matter of consistently playing well.