Former Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nuggets made one of the biggest trades of the NBA offseason, sending Porter and a 2032 first-round pick to the Nets in exchange for Cam Johnson.
Not only do some think Johnson is a better player than Porter, but Denver was able to have a big offseason with freed up cap space. The Nuggets new front office of Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace also added Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas.
On paper, Denver looks like it’s going to be a championship contender in 2026 with those four additions helping the core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun.
In Brooklyn, however, things aren’t looking quite so exciting. The Nets won only 26 games a season ago and finished fourth to last in the Eastern Conference. They’re clearly rebuilding, and Porter will be relied on heavily to be perhaps their best player next year.
He has to be excited for that opportunity, but also made a curious comment after his first workout with his new club. The clip in question hit social media, and as MPJ tends to do, it’s going viral.
“I’m not even gonna lie, they got me working probably as hard as I’ve ever worked.”
Michael Porter Jr. after his FIRST workout with the Nets 😭🔥
(Via curiousmike/YT) pic.twitter.com/KOC6kG5dzv
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 24, 2025
That comes from a nearly 15-minute vlog that Michael Porter Jr. put out on his YouTube channel “Curious Mike” on Thursday.
First of all, it’s good to see Porter embracing the opportunity in Brooklyn. He released a classy goodbye to Nuggets fans and is seemingly ready for the next chapter of his career.
But, come on, the hardest he’s ever worked? This is a guy who got to play alongside the best player in the NBA in Jokic the last seven years. If he wasn’t working this hard in a Nuggets uniform, is that on him or the coaching staff?
It’s a topic that could be up for debate, but the reality is Porter had a chance to win a title in Denver most years, and certainly the last three. The Nuggets reached the mountaintop in 2023 before losing in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals each of the past two seasons.
Porter wasn’t good in the playoffs against the Timberwolves in 2024. And he was bad against the Thunder in 2025, albeit battling a painful shoulder injury.
In some sense, this feels like shade being thrown at Denver. In another, it’s just Michael Porter Jr. being who he is, always capable of saying something that’s going to get the internet buzzing.
It’s a good thing he’s working hard with the Nets. And most Nuggets fans are rooting for him. But unless another trade is coming, MPJ won’t be sniffing team success again anytime soon.
