The Denver Nuggets could be extremely short-handed for the time being, as they are also going to be without rising NBA star Michael Porter Jr. for the foreseeable future.
That wasn’t a very positive update from head coach Michael Malone. Hopefully, this only sidelines him for a week as he said, but the team will certainly be taking their time with this one and will proceed with caution.
Porter exited the team’s game against the Houston Rockets over the weekend in the first quarter. The team called it back tightness, which is not normally a major concern. But, when it comes to Porter, it cannot be taken lightly.
Porter was the top-ranked prospect in high school and took his talents to Missouri to play collegiately. He was limited to only three games as a back injury derailed his freshman season with the Tigers.
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It also caused his draft stock to plummet. Porter was someone many people thought would be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but he dropped to 14th overall with the back concerns.
He underwent another procedure after being drafted by the Nuggets, which cost him his entire first season. Porter played sparingly during his second season in the NBA but came on in season No. 3, showcasing the scoring prowess that made him such a highly sought-after prospect from the beginning.
At the start of this season, however, Porter was struggling to find his groove. Through nine games he was shooting 35.9 percent overall from the field and 20.8 percent from the 3-point line. Both are well below his career norms, so maybe his back has been ailing him for longer than just this weekend’s game against the Rockets.
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Whatever the case may be, this is a delicate situation for the Nuggets. Already without Jamal Murray for the majority of the season, they could not afford to lose Michael Porter Jr. as well. Hopefully, he is sidelined for just the week and misses three or four games and this doesn’t turn into a multi-week or months-long absence.
