DENVER — Michael Porter Jr. slept in a hotel room Wednesday night, a few floors below the condo where he lived for seven years when he played for the Denver Nuggets. Now that home is staged to be sold.
That detail underscores the strangeness of Thursday night. The Brooklyn Nets forward returns to Ball Arena for the first time since Denver traded him last summer. He’s a Nuggets franchise legend yet both sides are better off for the divorce despite the happy memories.
“My whole family’s here, so it’s cool,” Porter said before the game. “And then obviously to see the fans, the ones that came early and had my jersey, had my card — it’s been cool to see my former teammates.”
Nuggets coach David Adelman didn’t mince words about what Denver fans should do when Porter’s name is announced.
“I would hope it’s a standing ovation,” Adelman said pregame. “The guy was our starting small forward and won the NBA championship. He’s an all-time Nugget.”
He got a standing ovation during the first timeout of the game.
Tribute video and standing O for Michael Porter Jr.
Great moment here at Ball Arena pic.twitter.com/7gc0B6ilge
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) January 30, 2026
All-time Nugget carries significant weight for a player whose NBA career nearly ended before it started. Porter fell to the 14th pick in 2018 after back surgery, then underwent two more procedures before playing meaningful minutes. He arrived in Denver as the youngest player in the locker room. He left it littering the franchise’s record books. Now, at 27, he leads the Nets in scoring with a career-best 25.2 points per game.
“Denver was like the last place on my mind that I would get drafted,” Porter said. “But it was the perfect place for me. They took their time with me, and the team got better and better, and then we ended up winning a championship.”
The trade that sent Porter and a first-round pick to Brooklyn for Cameron Johnson allowed Denver to get Jonas Valanciunas, while clearing a path for Peyton Watson to get more minutes. The high-risk move has worked out unusually well for both sides. Denver sits at 31-16 and tied for second in the loss column in the Western Conference despite Nikola Jokic being one of several players who have missed significant time.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, has watched Porter transform into a legitimate No. 1 option — bordering on All-Star worthy.
“I think it’s a very unique situation where both organizations are benefiting from the trade,” Porter said. “I don’t look back at it with any saltiness toward the organization. They got a lot out of trading me — not only Cam, but Val, Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., who’s playing amazing.”
Nets coach and former Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez has watched Porter’s evolution up close.
“It’s normal growth of being in a new context,” Fernandez said. “He was very good here, defined who he was here. In a different context, he’s been very efficient for us. He’s embraced his role. Here he was the youngest guy; in Brooklyn, he’s the oldest guy.”
That leadership role has injected something Porter didn’t expect: joy.
“I don’t want to take for granted winning basketball like I had here,” Porter said. “But it was just time for a change of scenery for me. I love my time here in Denver, but it’s all I knew.”
Porter ranks in the NBA’s top 20 in points and top 40 in rebounds per game this season. The extra usage he couldn’t get with the stars in Denver has allowed him the room to grow into the player many thought would be the top pick in the draft before the injuries.
Porter pointed to his recent podcast appearance with the player he was traded for, Johnson, which is soon to be published, as evidence that both men landed in the right spots.
“He’s now able to compete for a championship, something he hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to do in his career,” Porter said. “And I’m able to help these young guys and explore my game. It’s really cool that we both are able to flourish in these new situations.”
When asked about his favorite shots as a Nugget, Porter pointed to the chaotic triple he hit against the Lakers after Aaron Gordon saved the ball. But he also mentioned the transition pull-up three in Game 5 of the 2023 Finals that swung momentum, helping Denver clinch the franchise’s first championship.
“It’s just amazing to have won the first championship that the city has had,” Porter said. “I feel like if I didn’t get that ring, or finish my time here with a ring, it would have been hard to move into the situation I’m in now.”
Porter has long been defined by his injury history, but now it’s the Nuggets who are more banged up than they’ve ever been. He spoke at length about resilience — and about Watson, whom he considers a little brother
“Going through three back surgeries, three injuries in general, is not easy,” Porter said. “But I’m blessed to be able to be on the court. There’s a lot of players in my draft class, even guys that I grew up with, that have not had long careers or are out of the NBA. I’ve gone through 100 times more than a lot of these guys, and I’m sticking around.”
He gets messages constantly — from kids going through medical struggles, from fans who see their own battles in his journey.
“I get to inspire and touch a different group of people than if everything would have just gone smoother,” Porter said. “It’s kind of a cool testimony.”
On Watson, MPJ showed up to a game in New Orleans to support the current Nuggets forward. And he’s proud of him, saying he’s always known how talented the fourth-year player is.
“He’s gonna get paid a lot of money by Denver or somebody else,” Porter predicted. “It’s really good to see.”
The Nuggets need to get healthy. They need a win. Both are critical to their future. But Thursday night is more about the past than what the current group might do.
“Those groups of guys that I get to see when we play against them, they’ll always be my brothers,” Porter said. “It’s cool just because I was around them for seven years, saw them every single day. It’s a blessing to be able to see them again.”
