Kawhi Leonard offers praise for Michael Porter Jr.

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. receives a positive review from two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.

Denver Nuggets prized rookie Michael Porter Jr. just had his first taste of the playoffs in the team’s win against the Utah Jazz in the first round, but had the Los Angeles Clippers’ team doctor have been right in his predictions, MPJ would have never suited up for that series.

In fact, he would never have suited up… ever.

Just after Clippers head coach Doc Rivers expressed disappointment that his team didn’t select the 6’10” forward in the 2018 NBA Draft when they had a chance, Porter revealed that he never thought that Los Angeles was going to pick him anyways.

Why? Because their team doctor said that “he thought [Porter] would never play basketball again” (h/t ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk).

Nobody is right all the time but, clearly, the Clippers’ doctor was way off the mark. That may even add to MPJ’s desire to play against them, as he says “it’s going to be fun to play against them, for sure.”

It won’t be easy for Porter to dominate though. After a decent showing against the Jazz, Porter will continue to draw defensive attention with team’s well aware of his ability to explode as a scorer. Porter obviously has the respect of Doc, a longtime head coach who’s well-respected in NBA circles.

However, he also has the respect of Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard (h/t LA Times’ Andrew Greif):

"“He has a big impact,” Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said of Porter. “He can shoot the ball, rebound the ball, bring it up, transition, find guys that are open, create his own shots. … He also has some size on him. He can rebound on the offensive end, get some put-backs. That’s difficult to guard.”"

Porter averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds against Utah in 26.0 minutes per game, shooting 44.9% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range. In all but two games, Porter had a positive box plus/minus, including being a +18 in Game 5 and a +21 in Game 6. He scored 28 points in Game 2.

After averaging 22.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in the seeding games, there was undoubtedly more expected from Porter, who showed the potential to be the team’s third star. Nonetheless, Porter has shown himself capable of consistent improvement on both ends of the floor, and he may have an even larger impact against the Clippers now that he’s got his feet under him.

With Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic likely being matched up against solid defensive players throughout the series, Porter could find himself with more opportunities to score than he had against the Jazz.

In fact, in the team’s seeding game against the Clippers, Porter found him open for a few easy buckets because of the attention he’s teammates drew.

Leonard’s scouting report of Porter is spot-on, simply because MPJ is just as skilled as he makes him out to be.

If the Nuggets can get an x-factor performance out of the Seattle native in this round, they could be in line to have yet another playoff upset.