Keep Or Trade: Michael Porter Jr

Michael Porter Jr was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the 14th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. The pick was very skeptical at the time. It was very big risk vs reward for the Nuggets due to him having 2 back surgeries. One coming at the start of his college freshman year and the other before his rookie year. He would miss all his first year and would finally get to play in 2019.

Michael Porter Jr. in 2023

He had a lot of hype coming out of high school, considering he was this big 6’10” wing that is an elite shooter and can shoot over just about anyone at his position. Porter came into the league with great potential based on body size and his natural ability to shoot the ball. He was noted before the draft for his struggles when it came to defense, playmaking, and his want to drive to the hoop.

Porter has improved on his defense and his drive to the hoop, but still struggles with his playmaking and his consistency. Over the past year, ever since we lost to the Timberwolves in 2024, Porter has found his name being involved in trade rumors. Porter averaged a nice 18 points per game and 7 rebounds per game on 39% from 3 and 50% from the field in the regular season, but struggled with his consistency throughout the year with his ability to create contact inside the paint. Right before the playoffs, Porter got a bad shoulder injury that would have taken 4-6 weeks to heal, but he decided that since it was the playoffs, he would try and push through. During the playoffs, Porter was quite irrelevant, only averaging a small 10 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. With Porter trying to push through the injury, in some games, it felt like he was costing us, and it would have been better if he had just healed up. It brings me to this question on if we should keep him or look to move him.

Porter is the most valuable trade asset we currently have and brings the ability to add a guy like Zeke Nnaji or Dario Saric into the trade. Porter still has 2 years left and is making about 40 million each year. There have been rumors and proposals involving guys like Cam Johnson, who averaged 18 points per game and was a more consistent option for the Nets last year. Another trade that I really liked was Michael Porter and Zeke Nnaji to Portland for Jermi Grant and Robert Williams. This would replace Porter with a more consistent option and would also grant us a reliable backup center for Jokic.

Porter has been here for 7 years and has brought a lot of fun moments and exciting times, and was a huge piece that, without him, we might not have ended up winning the 2023 NBA Championship. Sadly, all good times do have to come to an end, and it might be time to move on. Do you want to see us keep Porter? If so, then why, and if not, who would you want us to trade for?