Denver Nuggets: Predicting Michael Porter Jr.’s spot on team

Could the Denver Nuggets have made a big mistake drafting the injured Missouri star back in 2018? Possibly. But after finally getting healthy, Michael Porter Jr. looks like a keeper in Denver.

Will Barton and Jamal Murray need one more wing alongside Gary Harris to continue to offset some of the attention being received by Nikola Jokic. It has been well established that the Nuggets may indeed need to trade for another big star on the wing to comprise a traditional “big three” that can strike fear into any team.

But, that may not be quite as big a priority now that Porter Jr. is beginning to cement his spot on the team. He averaged 14 minutes per game, good enough to position himself for a trustworthy nod from his head coach. The Nuggets were clearly being very cautious with his lengthy injury history, particularly involving his back.

With Torrey Craig’s future with the team still a little bit cloudy, Porter Jr. figures to be the eventual replacement for any wing that leaves the team. Management felt it was a worthy investment in a first round pick to deal away Malik Beasley, clearly gaining confidence in Porter Jr.’s development.

People tend to forget just how good the Nuggets’ forward was before his long list of injury problems began plaguing him. Securing him with the 14th pick in the draft was an incredible value for the team and at only 21 years old, he has his best basketball well ahead of him.

It will be up to the Nuggets to extract the incredible potential out of Porter Jr. and place him in the best possible scenario to succeed. Michael Malone has a tremendous history of developing young players, and Porter Jr. figures to be no different.