Craig Porter Jr. says he is more locked in than ever as he chases Cleveland’s backup point guard job

Craig Porter Jr. says he has reached a new level of focus going into his fourth season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he wants to be the guard who takes the ball-handling load off the stars now that Dennis Schröder is gone.

The undrafted point guard from Wichita State spoke to the Cavaliers’ team site before Thursday’s opener in Philadelphia. He framed this camp as the most serious of his career, saying he has “taken it to another level with how locked in I am.” That matters because the backup guard minutes in Cleveland are open for the first time in years, with Schröder no longer on the roster and two younger guards chasing the same role.

The job he is chasing

Porter described the role plainly. With Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley expected to carry much of the ball-handling, he sees himself as the release valve who brings the ball up and lets them play off it. He wants to give that group more freedom rather than take shots from it.

The competition is real. Rookie Meleek Thomas, the 34th pick in June, and second-year guard Tyrese Proctor are both in the mix, while Sam Merrill already holds a rotation spot. Porter called the battle friendly and said the three guards talk often, adding that Thomas is about as hungry as a player his age can be.

Team president Koby Altman pointed to Porter’s work in the weight room this summer, and Kenny Atkinson said the preseason left him thinking Porter will be in the rotation and used better than before. Cleveland exercised the fourth-year team option on his contract in June, keeping him under contract through June 2027.

We have exercised the fourth-year team option on Craig Porter Jr. #LetEmKnow

FULL DETAILS: https://t.co/5ULgwE9Yke pic.twitter.com/CXX2mMIMsu

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 22, 2026

What the numbers say

The preseason backed up the talk. In three games on whynba’s box scores, Porter handed out 17 assists against two turnovers. His best night came in the opener against Boston, when he had 10 assists, five points, two steals and no turnovers in a little over 16 minutes.

Last season he appeared in a career-high 64 games and averaged 4.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 17.9 minutes, with 52.4 percent true shooting. His value has always been on both ends: 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks a game is rare production for a guard listed at 6-foot-1. What he did not get was postseason time, appearing in only seven games during the run to the conference finals.

Porter also tied his personal push to a team lesson from that playoff exit. “Don’t wait until we get punched to want to punch back,” he said, arguing that Cleveland’s depth lets it match anyone physically from the opening tip.

What comes next

The Cavaliers open the 2026-27 season at the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, October 22, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Follow it in the Game Center, where the first real answer on how Atkinson splits the backup guard minutes will show up in the box score.