While Michael Porter Jr. is grateful for the time he spent with the Nuggets, including winning a championship in 2023, he says he’s ready for a “new chapter” after being traded to the Nets, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“I always said New York was my least favorite NBA city,” Porter laughed. “Just because I grew up in the Midwest, where there’s so much space and no traffic. So it’ll be an adjustment. But I think it’ll end up being an amazing place for me.”
The 27-year-old was frequently the third offensive option for Denver, but he’ll have an opportunity to expand his game with the rebuilding Nets. Porter recognizes there could be rough patches as he works to develop his skills, Lewis notes.
“It’s gonna be like exploring the game and working on the things in practice. Part of being a successful NBA player is when you’re working on things during the season, you should work on the shots and things you’re gonna get in the game,” Porter said. “I feel like now my daily preparation and my daily work will be a little bit different, and hopefully, that translates over to the game.
“It’ll probably be some more self-creation, iso situations. [Head coach] Jordi [Fernandez] has already talked to me about creative ways to get me in comfortable spots on the floor. So it will be a dialogue. I’m excited to see where it goes. And it’s definitely gonna be an adaptation. I won’t be the same player [on opening night] as I will be Game 20 as I adjust to that heavier load and that heavier role.”
Here a few more notes on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:
- Day’Ron Sharpe‘s new two-year deal with the Nets is not yet official, but that’s merely a technicality as Brooklyn looks to maximize its cap space. The 23-year-old center said he’s glad to be back with the team that selected him 29th overall in the 2021 draft, Lewis adds in another story. “I just feel that was the best option for me, and that’s where Brooklyn was at,” Sharpe said. “I just decided what I decided.”
- 2024/25 was essentially a lost season for Knicks wing Kevin McCullar Jr., per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The 24-year-old missed last year’s Summer League and several months of his rookie campaign due to a knee injury after being drafted with the 56th pick in 2024. “This is really my real rookie season,” McCullar said Sunday after pouring in 30 points in a 94-81 Summer League loss to Boston. “Last year I just got to be able to get my feet wet a little bit. … I love playing and I missed it for so long. Now it’s pretty much my rookie season.” McCullar is one of a handful of young players vying for a roster spot in the fall — he’s technically a restricted free agent after he was given a two-way qualifying offer, which is equivalent to a one-year two-way contract.
- The Knicks‘ decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau and replace him with Mike Brown has opened Leon Rose and the rest of the front office to “new degrees of accountability,” Bondy contends in a subscriber-only story. The move will be heavily scrutinized if the Knicks fall flat with Brown at the helm, particularly since there wasn’t much public desire to part with Thibodeau after he led the team to the conference finals, Bondy writes.
Having travelled the Midwest and visited many fine, smaller cities where is this fallacy that they have no traffic coming from? I sit in traffic everywhere I go.
This is a huge year for last year draft picks to make an impact on the Knicks. The time is now. They are cheap and hopefully a big part of the rotation. Hopefully, Kolek, as backup PG which allows Knicks to get another player who can shoot and defend. If not Kolek. Bring Brogdon or someone else. Let’s go Knicks!!! This is your year
Now compare any of those cities’ traffic with midtown Manhattan.
McCullar was drafted hurt. They knew he would sit out the year. This was a Thibs pick. He’s been described as a bigger Josh Hart. I’d say he should be ready to show this year. At 24 yrs old and healthy. The 4 rookies from last year have to step up this year. That happens. Gives Knicks options to trade. Makes the bench deep.
So after killing Thibs for starters mins. And not trusting his bench. Now the narrative will be. We shouldn’t have fired him. All he did was something
Knicks haven’t done in 25 yrs. Media is Loco …
Media have to sell stories every day. But I don’t think both views are mutually exclusive either. Thibs should have probably relied more on the bench. But firing him without having a clear substitute… I don’t get it. I mean, if someone like Kidd gets available and you think he could do great things with this team, then sure, go for him. But showing the door to the guy who took you to the conference finals just to take shots in the dark at a new coach seems odd.
lmao mpj thinks a euro coach is gonna let his broken buttface self create and play iso ball