The player that Michael Porter Jr. was always compared to as a prospect was Kevin Durant, based on his combination of size, skills, and shooting, but of course, he fell well short of that hype. But that was in Denver. Now, in Brooklyn, MPJ is looking a lot like the player he was supposed to be all along.
In fact, through his first 20 games with the Nets, Porter Jr. scored 525 points on .501% shooting and .403% three-point shooting. Only one other player in NBA history has started their first 20 games with any team, scoring 525+ points with 50/40 shooting splits, and that’s KD, who did it with the Warriors, Nets, and Suns.
Nobody is suggesting that Mike is actually going to suddenly turn into a Durant-like, All-NBA, MVP type of player, but at this point, we’re well past any excuses about a small sample size. He is clearly thriving in his new role, filling it up as an all-around scorer, and being the key cog in an offense that has actually been better than expected.
The Nets aren’t going anywhere this season (by design), but that’s not at all the fault of MPJ. Quite the opposite, actually. Since Cam Thomas has been out of the lineup, and Porter Jr. has taken on an even more prominent role, the team has actually strung some wins together, with Mike seemingly going over 30 points every single night.
MPJ deal was rare win/win trade
It would be easy to point the finger at the Nuggets and fault them for giving up on a player who is now thriving, and attaching a valuable first-round pick to do so. But in reality, this trade was a win/win for all parties involved.
Mike was never going to get this kind of role in Denver, as the team is successfully built around Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray. Porter Jr. had plateaued, and Denver was stuck with a team that wasn’t quite good enough, with no real flexibility to go out and fix it.
So, they made the decision to ship out Porter Jr., allowing him to flourish with a much bigger role in Brooklyn. It also brought a very solid player back in Cam Johnson, and perhaps just as importantly, allowed the Nuggets to go out and sign Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., while also trading for Jonas Valanciunas.
Those moves simply weren’t happening without dumping a big contract like Porter’s. At the end of the day, everyone is happy. You almost never see it in the NBA, but this was truly a rare occurrence where a deal seems to have worked out for all parties involved.