Michael Porter Jr. Addresses SHOCKING Retirement Talk | Brooklyn Nets Star’s NBA Future in Jeopardy?

Michael Porter Jr. Addresses SHOCKING Retirement Talk | Brooklyn Nets Star’s NBA Future in Jeopardy?

Coming up, Michael Porter Jr. addresses his surprising comments about a potential retirement. I’ll tell you why the coming season could determine his NBA future. After this, you are Locked on Nets, your daily Brooklyn Nets podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Lockdown Nets podcast right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It’s your team, the Brooklyn Nets, every single day. I’m Eric Slater, Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for clutchoints.com. Thank you for making me your first listen of the day. The show is 100% free on all those great platforms. And on today’s show, I’m going to be talking about Michael Porter Jr. and some surprise comments he made about potentially retiring. I’ll break down what you should take from his remarks and what his short and long-term future with the Nets could hold. But just some background on this, Michael Border Jr. has obviously been on a much talked about media tour this summer. And he recently did a podcast appearance with a popular streamer and talked about his career, some of the injuries he’s dealt with, and his future outlook. And one of the surprise things that he dropped in there and actually spoke about for a few minutes at length was that he has or he is not sure how much longer he wants to continue playing basketball. And that obviously lent itself to some questions about retirement. And you guys all, you know, I’m assuming have followed Michael Porter Jr.’s career. You know, he came out of Missouri. He had back issues. You know, those were red flags obviously going into the draft. The Nuggets took a chance on him and he played early in his career, but he also had to get multiple back surgeries, missed extended time, missed the whole season, and has come back and has been able to kind of revitalize his career through a lot of work. I’ll talk about that also. But there have been underlying back issues that were pretty serious for a time, even if he has gotten it under control. And that has, you know, lent itself to him having some physical issues. and he said that he’s not sure how much longer he wants to continue playing because of those issues. And the exact quote so nothing’s lost in translation. He said because of the injuries and stuff, I don’t know how much longer I really want to play. Like I want to play as long as I can, but people don’t understand the things I’ve got to go through on a daily basis just to get out on the court and play with the best athletes in the world. So that was the quote from Michael Porter Jr. Some Nets fans are probably having some uh Vietnam War flashbacks to Ben Simmons and some of the things that we’ve heard from him. And I’ll talk about Simmons a little bit at after this because Porter Jr. did allude to him, but pretty much, you know, Porter Jr. admitting that these injuries and the back things that he’s dealt with have taken a debilitating toll on him. He said things like uh the nerve in his back, you know, the nerve back injuries often compress nerves if you have a bulging disc or something like that and that can shoot pain down your leg. and he said that his nerve had been compressed so long that his muscles start stopped working and to this day his left leg does not work like his right leg. We heard about if you guys followed Ben Simmons injuries you heard about the nerve impingements and when you have a bulging disc them compressing the nerve root and that obviously causes a lot of pain and other significant issues and Porter Jr. has said that he’s since gotten those things under control through work he’s done obviously physical therapy things he’s done on his mental the mind body connection he spoke about that uh today at HSS training center and Nets’s practice I asked him about it and he said at length like those things have been extremely helpful and over the last two seasons he has been an iron man you know I I looked at the numbers and you know he’s only missed five or so games over the last two seasons which is pretty unbelievable considering what he dealt with early in his career but you know these things are things that do cause long-term physical issues. And you know, I think that these comments from MPJ are significant because he is the Net’s highest paid player for the Net’s two seasons. And this is a player that Brooklyn is either a going to want to resign after this deal concludes and have him be a future building block or b try to flip him in a trade where they can get some kind of value back for him. But he’s a significant player. I mean, he’s a top probably 75 player in the NBA right now. And you know, while I think the discourse surrounding him has kind of, you know, been thrown off a little bit because of his contract being a little too absorbent and, you know, his injury struggles in the playoff last year with the shoulder thing that he dealt with, but he’s still a very good player. Make no mistake about it. And, you know, this is a Nets team if you want to trade him, if you want to get value back for him, if you want to make him a part of what you’re planning moving forward, retirement questions, you know, it’s not exactly the best thing to hear. And you know, MPJ went on to say in that podcast that it’s something where he’s going to want to kind of like re-evaluate at the end of each season whether he wants to continue playing. So given the significance of this, you know, me thinking it’s significant, I asked MPJ at practice about it and what goes into that process, you know, moving forward of determining whether he wants to continue playing or not, like what does that look like? And this was the answer. I’m going to give you guys some video because I have it. This is what he had to say. I mean, basketball is my uh passion. Like I want to play as long as I can. I think that just it’s easier in my head just to be like, man, give it all this everything I have this year and then when the year’s over, see where I’m at mentally, reevaluate. But in the back of my mind, obviously, I want to play as long as my body allows me to. The last, you know, I’ve been through a lot of injuries, but the last few years, I’ve been, like you said, pretty much like an iron man. I think I played the most games on Denver. Um, besides that freak shoulder injury in the playoffs, I was pretty comfortable throughout the whole 82 game season and the playoffs. So, I mean, if if that continues, I want to obviously keep playing as long as I can. So, there you have it for Michael Porter Jr., it seems like somewhat going back on what he said before and, you know, kind of trying to, you know, diffuse some of the headlines and things that came along from that. And I do think that that’s good. Like, you hearing him say that he wants to play as long as his body allows him to, hearing him say that basketball is his passion, those are all great things. And I, you know, I don’t like not believe him. I take that stuff, you know, at face value. But I would say that anytime you hear comments about, you know, thinking about retirement or not knowing how much longer you want to continue playing for, you know, for an NBA team, you know, organizations that put a lot of stock into these players and plan a lot around them, put a lot of resources into them, pay them a lot of money, it’s not something you want to hear. Like, I think that that goes without saying. Like it’s not something that you want to hear players having doubts or players having, you know, long-term physical issues that are, you know, making them question whether they want to continue playing. Like the Nets just went through this with Ben Simmons obviously for what was, you know, two years. And I wrote way too many articles describing like what a a dquctomy was and what nerve impingements are and you know, it’s it’s nothing that anybody ever wants to talk about. But Simmons went through these issues and obviously it took a toll on whether he wanted to continue playing. The comments started coming like a year and a half ago or you know whatever that was that Simmons was like I’ve contemplated retirement. I’m not sure if I want to continue doing this. I had considered retirement. And when you hear that stuff and that stuff starts creeping in it just it’s not a positive obviously and Simmons in his case like you know I don’t think the situations are onetoone but Simmons is like he doesn’t have a contract right now and it does seem like for him this is trending towards a a direction where he’s going to retire. Now, I’d say I think MPJ and Simmons Simmons’ situations, they have some similarities in terms of the type of back injuries that they’ve gone through in terms of, you know, them having some other interests outside of basketball, it seems like. But MPJ from an encore perspective, it’s not really in the same universe. like he’s not a player who’s had the mental issues, you know, that Ben Simmons went through in terms of him being, you know, having worries about shooting the ball, having worries about things that were going on with how people were perceiving him. Like MPJ when he’s on the court, he looks really confident. I think there have been at times in his Denver tenure questions about his want to, his desire, you know, in certain aspects. Like I think you heard that that was a little bit of a conversation during the playoffs, but he was injured. he had that shoulder injury during the playoffs and playing through that. I think that gives you a good indication of his want to and a desire to be out there and help his team. So, I don’t think the Simmons and MPJ, you know, situations are comparable in terms of, you know, they’re they’re just completely different and their approach on the court, their confidence level and all of those things. MPJ hasn’t gone through any of those or not hasn’t gone through, I don’t want to speak for him, but hasn’t had the documented kind of like mental health issues, you know, during his playoff playing career that Ben Simmons went through. But, you know, there are similarities in terms of the type of injury and all that. And, you know, I think MPJ coming out and saying that he wants to play as long as his body will allow him to is a good thing. But, I also think that these retirement comments are noteworthy for a Nets team that has this player who they hope to be an asset whether for themselves or to be traded in the long run. I think ultimately you have to, you know, put some stock in into these kinds of things and we’ll see how it plays out. But this coming season is going to be important because MPJ, as I said, has been an iron man the last two season. He has been able through hard work, determination, you know, mental fortitude, been able to turn around his injury struggles and play in, you know, 79, 80 games the last two years. So, this is a third season. And I think those, you know, that availability that he has had over the last two years has helped to kind of somewhat dispel this injury narrative of he’s just this injuryprone guy and he’s not able to stay healthy. He’s done it for two years now. So, if he can do that for a third straight season, I think that would go a long way towards, you know, further cementing uh that he can be an available and, you know, dependable player for NBA teams, whether for the Nets or another team who wants to trade for him. And also, I think it would be good for his confidence and his mental place. And he said that he’s going to re-evaluate at the end of the year where he feels and things along those lines. So, a lot of retirement, you know, buzz from MPJ, but he seemed to dispel some of that. But there’s still going to be a lot of oncourt importance to this player. He is the Net’s highest paid player. He’ll be really important to what they’re trying to do. So, what could his role look like with the Nets? How could Jordi Fernandez look to utilize him? What is his importance going to be to this Net’s historic rookie class? I’ll talk about all that when I continue locked on Nets after a quick break. But before that, want to tell you about our friends over at Pelaton. Guys, Pelaton is shaping the future of fitness with their brand new Pelaton crossraining tread plus powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s their most advanced equipment design yet. Designed to give you real time guidance and endless ways to move whether you’re running, lifting, or crossraining with your favorite instructors. This is training reimagined. Pelaton is built for breakthroughs with tools that help you plan, stay motivated, and reach peak performance. Guys, I love how Pelaton IQ system offers real-time strength coaching. It actually tracks your reps, suggests the right weights, and corrects your form, making every rep safer and smarter. The swivel screen is a gamecher. You can go from running on the Tread Plus to strength training without missing a beat. And the personalized class recommendations keep you engaged. You get workouts tailored to your vibe and energy level each week. So, let yourself run, lift, relax, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Pelaton Crossraining Tread Plus at onepelon.com. Coming back from the break on today’s Locked on Nets episode, talking about Michael Porter Jr. and what fans should expect during his Brooklyn tenure. I just got back from HSS training center in Brooklyn. Got to talk to Jordan Fernandez and Michael Porter Jr. about a wide range of different subjects, but there’s obviously been a lot of buzz about Michael Porter Jr. stepping into a new role with this Nets team, and it’s definitely significant. He’s replacing Cam Johnson, someone who was the Net’s best player last season. And with the uncertainty surrounding Cam Thomas this coming year, I think Michael Porter Jr. is presumed to be the Nets’s top player and he’ll be probably their top offensive player. You know, if Cam Thomas is in and out of the lineup, if he’s traded midway through the year, that obviously that situation has to play itself out, but he’s going to be really important to what the Nets want to do. He’s going to be really important to this rookie this rookie uh point guard class. And also, you know, there’s a lot of expectations about Michael Porter Jr. doing more things on the ball, doing more things as a pick and roll ball handler. He has said numerous times that he felt his ceiling plateaued in Denver and he’s excited to show more of what he can do. And I think that that definitely is going to be the case, but I don’t think it might be in the way that some people are expecting. Like I don’t think it’s going to be Michael Porter Jr. bringing the ball up, running, pick and roll, and doing all of these things like so often. I think that that’s a little bit far-fetched just based on what his skill set is. I think what that expanded role is going to look like is probably going to be something closer to what Cam Johnson did last year. Maybe not at that same kind of volume, but doing some more pick and roll, doing some more isolation, but not at like crazy numbers because really doing any pick and roll or any isolation would be a step up from what MPJ did in Denver last year. He was like less than one possession per game in both of those areas last season with the Nuggets obviously with Jamal Murray and Nicole Joic dominating that offense. So I think he’s going to have an expanded role. Does that mean that he’s going to have the ball all the time and be doing things off the bounce and things along those natures? No. And I think Jordi Fernandez had a good quote about it at practice today. We talked about it and expectations for what MPJ’s offensive role is going to be. And this is what Jordy had to say. Quote, “It’s not going to be better or worse. It’s just going to be different. He’s going to be asked to do different things. I’m going to want him to be aggressive. I’m going to ask him to shoot the ball to be the best cutter on the floor because he’s a big target and a very good rebounder. I’m not going to be asking him to dribble too much because that’s not what I envision him to be very efficient at, but he can shoot over people. He can shoot, rebound, do all of those things that I just mentioned. I’m excited to watch him play in a different role.” End quote. So, there you have it from Jordan Fernandez. And I think that that answer is along the lines of what I’ve been expecting. And it sounds like it’s going to be something similar to the Cam Johnson role, which will be an expanded role and will be asking MPJ to do things differently. But, you know, MPJ has said that he’s excited to flash these different areas of his offensive game and, you know, he has past experience with Jordan Fernandez, Jordy coaching him in Denver those years back. So, I would expect him to be in the same page. But, it’s going to be interesting to see as the year progresses, how is Jord’s vision married to what MPJ is hoping for? Because sometimes you see it with these guys who are really, really talented players and they come in and they get to maybe a team that’s a little bit more of a rebuilding team or a step away from contention and they see it as like this is my time to shine. This is my time to show what I can do. And I think that that can be the case for MPJ, but it doesn’t sound like Jordi Fernandez is envisioning him doing a ton of like high pick and roll on ball ISO creation. And if MPJ wants to do those things, we’ll see as the year progresses, how much is he kind of doing things off script on his own versus trying to stay within the constraints of what Georgia Fernandez views for him offensively. So that’s going to be definitely something to watch out at. And even in the Cam Johnson role, you know, doing a lot of different things, whether it is a little bit more pick and roll ball handling, a lot of DHO action, a lot of Zoom and Chicago sets and things along those lines. MPJ has talked about wanting to play out of the mid post a little bit more and that he feels like he can get six to eight points a game just from playing around there. You know, playing face up game, getting guys off their spots, being able to maneuver in and around the lane. So, I think it’s going to be interesting to see whether he can do that stuff. I personally am not too bullish on him, you know, executing things at the level that Cam Johnson did last year in terms of those secondary ball handler, secondary creator responsibilities because it’s just it’s not really his skill set or something that he’s done all that much. Like he’s not a strong ball handler. I think CJ is a lot better in that regard. And as a decision maker, there’s been questions about him throughout his career because he hasn’t really been tasked with doing all that much. I mean, he has played high level basketball. So in those settings, playoff settings, you know, championship settings, you have to make decisions. But in terms of doing it on the ball and within, you know, just like being a little bit of an offscript self-creator, it’s not something that he’s done a ton or had a ton of success with. So it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. But I also think that MPJ in Georgia Fernandez’s role is obviously going to be really important to just scoring and what the Nets want to do because they have so little shot making and shot creation. But more importantly, it’s going to be huge for these rookie guys and Jagor Gilman, Nolan Troy, Ben Saraf. I mean, these are guys who are going to need a little bit of a safety blanket. And that’s what I would envision MPJ being for them in terms of being a floor spacer. I mean, we know this is a guy who’s been around 17, 18 points per game on near 50, 40, 90. Like, he’s one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA. He’s a legit 610 floor spacer. So, that in itself is going to open the floor a lot more for these guys. And that is really big because you look at guys like Nolan Troy, like Ben Saraf, like Jaor Gman, you’re going to want to see them be able to get downhill and let their passing abilities shine. And you know, in guys like, you know, Jagor in really all of their cases, I feel like the floor spacing that they were playing with, whether at BYU or whether playing in the overseas leagues that these other guys played in, is a step down and that is going to lead to a more constrained paint obviously and make things more difficult for them. And that’s something that we heard the Nets front office talk about in the scout series. They were talking about Nolan Troy in one of those episodes and they said that they feel like his skills of his first step, his burst, his a his ability to get downhill and collapse the paint with NBA level spacing is going to be even better. And who’s the top guy providing that spacing for this Net team? It’s MPJ. So, that’s going to be huge. And then Jordy Fernandez also obviously alluded to his size, his ability as a cutter. I think all of that is going to lend itself to him being a little bit of a security blanket for these Nets rookie ball handlers. And I’m excited to see how it plays out. I mean, MPJ is a really fun guy to watch sometimes. I think that he has a lot of really intriguing skills. I’m going to be interesting to see, you know, it’s going to be another storyline, an added layer to see how does he acclimate to this new role with this Nets team, and what could that look like? Could it make him a long-term piece for this team? Could it make him a potential trade guy when his contract is expiring next season? It’ll all be really interesting to play out. But we do have some more Nets news and notes about what rookies are standing out, what surprising, you know, end of the bench guys have been elevating their play so far. So, we’ll get to all that when I close out Lockdown Nets after a quick break. But before that, want to tell you about our friends over at FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Guys, FanDuel fits however you like to bet, player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It makes every game more exciting. Whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup, it’s quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. Coming back from the break, closing out today’s Locked on Nets episode. Hit on MPJ at the top, his potential retirement comments, also expectations for his role this season. We got more news and notes, a lot of it by way of an interview uh with MPJ today about what has been going on on Net in Net’s training camp. And one significant thing, I think, was Drake Pal who I talked about on my last podcast episode. We obviously got the news that Drake on Monday progressed to participating in the contact portion of practice. And we got confirmation today that he has participated in scrimmages presumably five on five. Like you hear contact sometimes you don’t know what that means, contact portion of practice. There’s drills that are contact but aren’t like full 5v5 scrimmages. And Pal has been participating in those scrimmages. The Nets had scrimmages today, Wednesday, um doing things, you know, with referees, like it’s a new program the NBA is doing during training camp. They’re sending in actual refs and having like real game simulated type scrimmages. So, Drake Pal reportedly has participated in that, which is big after what he’s dealt with with being limited with the knee tendonopathy thus far this off seasonason. But MPJ also had some comments about Pal and I thought that they were pretty noteworthy. Like I touched yesterday about Pal and his athleticism and why he’s such an exciting player, but we now have a comment from a high level uh NBA player in MPJ saying that Pal is one of the most athletic players he’s ever seen. So I definitely think that that’s noteworthy because guys are athletic. Like you have testing numbers. You see that, you saw it with Pal in North Carolina last year. having a NBA, you know, a high level NBA player like MPJ saying that after seeing Pal play in a, you know, game setting presumably alongside other NBA level players like him sticking out in that type of setting that much where MPJ saying one of the most athletic players I’ve ever seen. I think that that is really noteworthy and it’s a real positive. And you know, we talked about um with MPJ other things, his opinions on Drake, and he said outside of the outside of just the athleticism that he has a, you know, projectable skill set and he has a baseline where he feels like he’ll be able to work with, you know, and be able to expand. Pal will be able to work with and expand his game and work from there. He said that Pal hits some threes in scrimmages. He said that Pal looks comfortable in the mid-range. So, all of those are good things to hear and I spoke about it yesterday, but I think the expectation is from things I’ve heard that Pal is probably going to spend some time in the G- League this season and I think that that that athleticism will be on full display and I think that some of these projectable things that we’re hearing about, he’ll be able to work on that. So, just good to hear MPJ talk about a player like Drake Pal and that he’s been sticking out like that. Another really, you know, not surprising, but noteworthy development is MPJ said that Tyrese Martin is the most impressive player that he’s seen at Nets camp thus far. Tyrese obviously signed that two-way contract with the Nets before last season, then got converted to a 2-year standard deal, and now he’s on a non-garanteed contract entering this season. So Tyrese Martin reportedly has been playing extremely well and that is noteworthy because there is a battle for the Net’s final roster spot at the final Nets’s two-way spot and the final standard roster spot. I think that Tyrese at his age, you know, he’s going to be 27 this coming season would more be a candidate for the final uh standard roster spot. And that is noteworthy. You got Dariq Whitehead, I think, is a guy who’s on a guaranteed standard deal, but I do not think that his spot is solidified whatsoever. He’s kind of that 15th guy. And then beyond him, you have the non-g guaranteed guys which are Martin, Jaylen Wilson, and Drew Timmy. And that’s really, you know, a tough competition because you have Dariq Whitehead, who the Nets invested a 2023 first round pick in. Then you also have, you know, Drew Timmy, a guy who came in and lit up in the G-League and at summer league, has a lot of pass pedigree. Jaylen Wilson, the Nets used a second round pick on in uh 2023, presumably liked a lot of what they saw from him and has shown flashes during his first couple years. And then you see Tyrese Martin now coming in. He’s apparently the one that has stuck out the most thus far. So maybe that indicates that he has the leg up for that final roster spot. I’m probably going to do a full episode on this in the coming days and really focus on Tyrese Martin and what the the bottom of this roster battle could look like for that final spot. But Tyrese Martin sticking out early in camp. I don’t think it’s all that surprising. He had a good season last year. Good three-point shooter. MPJ noted that Martin can, you know, play point guard. He can slide into that role. He can be a two or a wing. He’s a good passer. Good feel for the game. I think all of that was on display, but he is a little bit older or a lot older than Dariq Whitehead and then a little bit older than these other non-G guaranteed guys like Jaylen Wilson and Drew Timmy. So maybe that age, you know, that him not having the same kind of youth or, you know, potential like developmental track could hurt him. But if he’s playing this well at training camp, he might have a leg up. So we’ll see. We’ll have more coverage of that on a coming episode. But that does it for today’s episode of Locked on Nets. Thank you to all of you for tuning in. If you do not already, make sure to subscribe to Lock.net on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast, whether Apple Podcast or Spotify. Also, if you have a second right now, you enjoy the content, smash that like button, leave a comment, a review. Anything you guys can do to engage is much appreciated. Let me know what you think about these MPJ comments. Are you concerned by them? Anything along those lines. We got a lot more Nets coming up. We got about one more practice before the Net’s first preseason game. So, I have coverage of all that and more when I’m back tomorrow talking more Brooklyn Nets basketball.

Erik Slater discusses Brooklyn Nets star Michael Porter Jr’s surprising retirement comments. He breaks down what Porter Jr’s remarks could signal and what fans should expect from the forward this season.

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