Michael Porter has officially moved on from the Denver Nuggets, this week, putting his opulent city dwelling on the market for $5.25 million, three months after he was traded along with a future first for Cam Johnson. MPJ also spoke this week with Justin Laboy, a New York-based podcaster about his time in Denver, why he thought he was traded, his relationship with Nikola Jokic and of course, wound up in yet another controversy, this one a toned down version compared to some of his more recent forays. It is hard to keep up.

For Nets fans, the big news was that Porter, now 27 with two years left on his deal, said he’s taking his career ”a year at a time — and plans to go off the grid next summer to consider what’s next. “So I’m committed to basketball and putting my all into it for the next year. And then after that, I’m gonna reevaluate.”

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A number of pundits have suggested that the Nets could move his contract — $38 million this season and $40 million in 2026-27 — to a contender a year from now when his deal is expiring.

He admitted his history of back injuries and how he fares this year — as well as his mental and emotional status — could have an effect.

“Because of the injuries and stuff, I don’t know how much longer I really want to play,” he told Laboy, a former professional athlete himself whose career was cut short by injury. “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.”

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One of the best high school basketball players of the last decade, MPJ suffered back issues that required three back surgeries early in his career with the Nuggets, but in the last two years, he’s missed only six games. He did suffer a serious shoulder injury that limited him in Denver’s post-season which ended in a second round loss to the eventual champion OKC Thunder.

He explained his health issues in depth.

“My injuries were very unique because there was nerve damage, right? The nerves are what send the signal to your muscles to fire. In my situation, my nerve was compressed for a long time. So by the time I finally had some of these surgeries, the nerve had been compressed so long that my muscles stopped working,” he told Laboy. “To this day, my left leg does not work like my right leg. So I’ve got to wear a brace in the game. There’s a lot of compensation that goes on because I’m moving different from left leg to right leg. It’s really technical, but there’s a whole lot of compensation. My hips might get thrown off, my feet get to aching because I’m not distributing the weight properly because of the nerve injury.”

He also noted that ex-Net Ben Simmons, whose play was limited by two back surgeries, suffers from some of the same issues. (Indeed at one point in his recovery from his second back surgery, Simmons lost feeling in his foot, a league source told ND.)

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“Yeah, after three back surgeries… You know, people say the same thing about Ben Simmons: “Oh, he doesn’t want to hoop. He’s mental.” No, he had one or two of the injuries I had. I’ve had three of them. So I know—it’s not that he doesn’t want to hoop, it’s the fact that those injuries are serious injuries.“

Porter said that he did a lot of thinking about his future after the trade when he went off the grid in Central America.

“Really, what I started doing though—earlier this summer, I went to Costa Rica, put my phone up, didn’t touch it for four days, and spent time thinking about just the next year. Let’s plan the next year. See if I even want to play basketball this next year. Let’s go deep and see: What do I want to focus on? What am I really thinking, right?,” MPJ noted.

“I put my phone up, started doing journaling, started doing reading. First time in my life I’ve done that, right? And I came to real clarity. I decided: all I’m going to do is take it a year at a time. So I’m committed to basketball and putting my all into it for the next year. And then after that, I’m gonna reevaluate. I’m gonna take a trip somewhere else, put my phone up for four or five days, and reevaluate for the next year. So that’s kind of how I want to do it moving forward. I don’t want to plan too far in the future. I just want to take it a year at a time. You feel me?”

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In discussing the trade from the only team he ever played for — and won a ring with, Porter said he thought it was more about getting the Nuggets a fresh start.

“Basically, what happened was after we lost, they fired—you know—the head coach. They fired him two or three games before the playoffs. They fired the GM. So a new GM comes in, and I think he just wanted to switch stuff up. Then that deal came up with Cam,” he said. MPJ has said he was surprised by the trade but there were reports following the trade that the two sides had been talking for a while.

He dismissed Laboy’s suggestion that Nikola Jokic had anything to do with his departure.

“The thing was—me and Joker got an amazing relationship,” he argued, suggesting that it was more a corporate decision. “Joker is so laid-back—I really don’t feel like the owner and the GM had many conversations with him. I feel like Joker was just like, “Hey, it’s y’alls.” Like, Joker is so humble. He works really hard. But he’s not the type of guy to step on people’s toes or be super controlling, even though he probably could and has that power. He doesn’t really do that. So I think it was more the new GM coming in with the owner. They kind of sat down, and they just wanted to go in a different direction.“

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Porter also spoke about how Jokic, like LeBron James, takes care of his body, citing the three-time MVP’s post-game workout.

But “Joker is one of the most dedicated, hardworking dudes I’ve ever been around. You hear the stories about LeBron and how he takes care of his body? Joker’s the same way. I’m talking about—he’s one of the last ones to leave after every game. After playing 40-some minutes and having the usage he does, He goes right up to the weight room to lift. Only like 3 or 4 of us did that. Every single day, on the off days—he’s in there taking care of his body.”