Going as far back as last season, the writing on the wall was clear in many ways; if the Nuggets wanted to make a big trade, Michael Porter Jr. was likely to be the odd man out. It’s really just a simple process of elimination situation. The Nuggets have four players with sizable contracts, those are the four best players on the team and the core-four players from the title team.
Those are the four players who would have any trade return and could actually bring back a solid player (or multiple players) with a solid amount of salary attached. Of those four players, Nikola Jokic is untouchable, and Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray recently signed extensions, making them ineligible to be traded during the season. That leaves Porter Jr.
This isn’t anything new, but still, it always felt like a sort of last resort rather than something likely to happen. At the end of the day, it felt like the Nuggets would figure it out; their starters would be elite and they’d squabble together a good enough bench to build a contender; just like usual.
But as the season has gone on, that has felt less and less like a certainty. The Nuggets have really struggled and frankly, their 16-11 record doesn’t fully capture how shaky the first ⅓ of the season has been. Their flaws and shortcomings have been on display under a magnifying glass with everything held together by a thread.
That thread has been the brilliance of Nikola Jokic. The Joker has been so incredible and raised his game to another level. This has helped cover up the team’s weaknesses and at least allow them to remain close enough to where they can steal wins in the closing minutes more often than not.
Still, fans who are tuning in every night can tell that what they’re watching isn’t sustainable and isn’t the recipe for winning a championship. That’s the goal for this Nuggets team for as long as Jokic is in his prime and right now, they look far away from achieving that goal this season.
It’s clear from watching that the team around Jokic just isn’t good enough. They need more offensive creation, they need more shooting, they need more perimeter defense, and they need frontcourt depth. In other words, they need almost everything. They need an injection of talent and this becomes clearer by the day.
Lately, it feels like even those within the front office have come to this realization as rumors are swirling left and right about the Nuggets and their desire to improve the roster. Reports have connected Denver to players like Zach LaVine, Jimmy Butler, Jordan Poole, Cam Johnson, De’Andre Hunter, and others.
The interest seems legitimate and where there is this much smoke, there’s usually fire. In a recent ESPN report from Bobby Marks and Jeremy Woo, the insiders caught up with executives in Orlando for the G-League Showcase and the prevailing sentiment was that the Nuggets are looking to find players at the deadline and that Porter Jr. is the name to watch.
It appears the rumors may even be getting to Mike. He bounced back with a nice performance on Monday but had struggled recently, even getting benched for the 4th quarter and overtime during Saturday’s game. Porter Jr. is a professional and he can try to drown out the noise, but it’s becoming incredibly loud and he’s only human.
Whatever happens, the Nuggets need to act with the best interest of the franchise in mind. If there is a move to be made that can improve the roster, they need to do it, even if that means sacrificing Porter Jr. It felt like it would never come to this, but here we are, and it feels more real than ever before.