NEW YORK _ Coming to a new team creates new roles and different responsibilities.
Thus, Otto Porter Jr. sat at his locker Friday before making his Bulls debut in a 125-106 victory over the Nets and answered questions about a variety of topics.
No matter the question, Porter, who scored 18 points, offered a ready answer.
"I'm willing to take on the challenge," he said over and over.
Moving from a veteran team in the Wizards to a young, rebuilding team, is Porter _ at 25 but in his sixth season _ willing to lead? Moving away from All-Star guards John Wall and Bradley Beal, is he willing to be more aggressive offensively if need be? Can he improve the Bulls defensively?
Yes, yes and yes.
"I hope to bring my talent, my versatility, a little bit of a veteran knowledge and my attitude for winning to this team," Porter said. "I definitely want to bring more than just 3-point shooting. I want to bring my overall game. Defensively, I pride myself on being able to guard multiple positions. Just bring that here."
The Bulls brought a lot to the Barclays Center in winning for just the third time in 19 games. They sank 14 3-pointers and set a season high in points, running their streak of scoring 100 to 17 games. It's the eighth-longest streak in franchise history and longest since 23 consecutive bridging the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.
Lauri Markkanen posted his fifth double-double in six games, finishing with 31 points and 18 rebounds. It's the first time in the second-year forward's career he has posted three straight 30-point games.
Zach LaVine scored 26 points on an efficient 17 shots. Kris Dunn flirted with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine assists.
And Porter sank his first five shots, including his first three 3-pointers. The career 39.9 percent 3-point shooter made 4 of 5 from that range and added four rebounds.
"They have a lot of guys that are out, so they're looking for me to come in and contribute right away," Porter said, warming more to his role than his pronoun usage. "Be one of the guys that keeps the group together. It's going to be an important role and I'm willing to embrace it."
That role is a clearly defined one, courtesy of coach Jim Boylen. Porter's Thursday afternoon physical ended too late for him to fly here with the team, so he hopped a commercial flight with a team staffer and met with Boylen to watch film upon arrival.
"What I talked to him about is running the floor, understanding our multihandler system that we're developing," Boylen said. "If he has it, he can bring it. If he doesn't have it, we need him to run the floor. And then I talked to him about defending and rebounding. I need him to be aggressive offensively and not shy away from taking shots."
Playing alongside Wall and Beal, Porter did that enough that Wizards coach Scott Brooks even joked with Washington media to remind Porter to shoot more. Porter took nine shots in his 34 minutes Friday.
Porter said he had "no idea" about the Dec. 9 incident that created national headlines when two or three players floated the idea of boycotting Boylen's practice following a back-to-back set of games that included a franchise-record 56-point loss to the Celtics in which Boylen used two five-man substitutions.
The forward did admit feeling "kind of sad" for leaving his adopted hometown of Washington. Porter, a St. Louis native, not only spent five-plus seasons with the Wizards but two seasons at Georgetown.
"But to leave and start fresh is a positive opportunity for me," Porter said.
Boylen cited Porter's positional size at 6-foot-8. He expressed excitement over Porter's ability to slide to power forward in smaller lineups. He mentioned Porter's playoff experience.
"We like who he is now," Boylen said. "And we're hoping that there's upside there."
