Michael Porter Jr. has been a cornerstone of the Nuggets organization this decade. The shooting and scoring ability he has brought to the table helped the Nuggets win the championship in 2023 and be a perennial contender since 2020, but it was clear after this most recent playoff run that his time in Denver had run its course.
As a result, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in return for Cam Johnson earlier in the offseason.
Did the 6-foot-10 sharpshooter also feel that his time in the Mile High City had run its course? He recently appeared on the “One Night with Steiny” podcast and shared his thoughts surrounding the trade.
“Am I hurt? Nah, I felt like it was a mixture of emotions. Like excitement, a little bit of hurt mixed in there, but I felt like I wanted a change of scenery,” Porter said. “I felt like the GM, we had met a couple days prior, I felt like he kind of got that vibe as well. I know like, the last two seasons, we’ve lost Game 7 of round two … If we beat those two teams, like last year if we beat OKC, we’re probably in the championship contending for another title.”
Porter is probably right. Denver matched up much better against Dallas in 2024 than they did against Minnesota, but they would’ve had to square off against that Juggernaut of a Celtics team that throttled the Mavericks in the Finals. Last year, they matched up horribly against Minnesota, as they were swept by them in the four-game regular season series, so it’s hard to tell if they would’ve been competing in the Finals again had they not been dismantled by Oklahoma City in Game 7.
“We were so close both years, but once you lose a couple of years in a row when the goal is [a] championship, I feel like they needed to switch it up,” Porter said.
Now with the Brooklyn Nets, Porter will not have to take a backseat to Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic from a scoring standpoint. He will likely have the keys to the offense alongside Cam Thomas, as those two will be leading an offense that will likely look similar to some pick-up runs at the local 24 Hour Fitness. That team is not going to be good, but being able to watch Porter embrace a new role offensively should be an entertaining watch, even if it doesn’t lead to winning.
He also made sure to give his flowers to his former teammates that he spent so much time with in Denver over the years.
“Joker, Mal, AG, you know AG’s my dog. AG’s the best, I’m gonna miss him, P-Wat, Julian, Mal, Joker, all my teammates, we got close, so I’m gonna miss them all. We won a [championship],” Porter said.
It should be all love at the end of the day between Porter and Nuggets Nation. He fought through three back surgeries and a countless amount of other injuries to be on the court for the team. There are plenty of other players in the league who would’ve sat out in these playoffs with the same shoulder injury he had, but he fought his hardest to be on the court competing for a championship. Will he get his jersey retired? Probably not, but he was a great Nugget, and should be remembered that way.
