Michael Porter Jr. Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Michael Porter Jr. Suffered Minor Setback In Injury Rehab

March 30th, 2022 at 7:19am CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. suffered a setback in recent weeks during his rehab process following back surgery, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

A source familiar with the situation told Singer that the setback was the result of overcompensation and overwork, while another source said it was “nothing major.”

However, with time running out on the 2021/22 season, even a minor setback jeopardizes the possibility of Porter returning to action for the Nuggets. According to Singer, the team has yet to make a decision on whether or not to shut down the 23-year-old, who had hoped to make it back in March. Porter went through a shooting routine prior to Monday’s game, Singer notes.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports stated during a TNT broadcast last Tuesday that Porter has endured some “ups and downs” during his rehab process, which suggests the setback may have occurred before then. Haynes said at the time that Jamal Murray was closer to a return than Porter, though it remains possible that neither Nugget will play this spring.

Porter, who also missed his entire rookie season in 2018/19 due to back surgery, appeared in just nine games this season before going under the knife again. He hasn’t played since November 6.

Nuggets Notes: Porter, Murray, Nnaji, Hyland

March 23rd, 2022 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

A report in late February stated that Michael Porter Jr. (back) was on track to return to action in mid-to-late March and that there was optimism in the Nuggets‘ locker room about Jamal Murray (ACL) being back in time for the playoffs too. However, nearly a month later, there’s still no clarity about when Porter and Murray might play — or even if they’ll return at all this season.

On Monday, Joe Vardon of The Athletic cited multiple team sources who said Porter is considered more likely than Murray to return this season. According to Vardon, those same sources cautioned that it’s possible neither player will be available for the playoffs.

On Tuesday, during TNT’s broadcast of the Nuggets/Clippers game, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports suggested that Murray’s rehab process has actually advanced further than Porter’s (video link via Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports).

“The rehab process hasn’t been too good up to this point for Michael Porter Jr. He’s had some ups and downs,” Haynes said. “As of now, Murray’s ahead. But I’m told both don’t have a firm timeline and the team will follow their lead as to when they feel mentally and physically ready to return.”

Following up on Haynes’ report, Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link) said on Wednesday that he spoke to someone close to Porter and asked about the odds of the forward returning this spring. According to Singer, the answer he received was “very noncommittal,” which doesn’t bode especially well with just two-and-a-half weeks left in the regular season.

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

Zeke Nnaji is another Nugget whose status for the rest of the season is up in the air, according to Kyle Hendrickson of The Denver Post, who says the forward’s lingering knee injury might prevent him from playing again this spring. Nnaji, who had established himself as a regular part of Denver’s rotation before he went down, has appeared in just one game since February 11. “I don’t know when or if he’ll be back,” head coach Michael Malone said. “I really can’t say because I did not anticipate him being out this long. It’s unfortunate. Hopefully, we can get him back. But while he’s out, obviously, everybody else has to step up.”
A number of Nuggets players “spoke up and aired their grievances” following Sunday’s game against Boston, which was Denver’s second consecutive loss and fourth in six games, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. According to Bones Hyland, center DeMarcus Cousins said the way the Nuggets were playing was “unacceptable.” The Nuggets responded on Tuesday with a win over the Clippers and now have a one-game lead on Minnesota for the last guaranteed playoff spot (No. 6) in the West.
Sean Keeler of The Denver Post questions why Hyland isn’t part of more closing lineups for the Nuggets, arguing that the rookie has shown an ability to play big in big moments.

Jamal Murray To Practice With Grand Rapids Gold

March 15th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Nuggets have assigned injured guard Jamal Murray to their NBAGL affiliate club, the Grand Rapids Gold, to practice with the team, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).

The odds of Murray playing at all this season had been considered tenuous recently, so any movement on this front has to be encouraging news for Nuggets fans. He is expected to return to Denver following Grand Rapids’ practice on Saturday.

Wind adds (via Twitter) that the Nuggets will assess Murray following his workouts with the team’s G League affiliate and decide how to move forward with the 6’3″ vet’s recovery timeline after that. According to Wind, Denver’s other injured star, small forward Michael Porter Jr., has yet to join the Gold for a workout.

Murray was enjoying a breakout season during 2020/21 prior to his ACL tear, notching a career-best 21.2 PPG on .477/.408/.869 shooting, plus 4.8 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.3 SPG through 48 games.

With Murray and Porter shelved, reigning 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic has shouldered a massive burden this season for Denver. The Nuggets have remained very competitive with their All-NBA center at the helm, sporting a 41-28 record as the West’s sixth seed as of this writing. The team is just 1.5 games behind the Jazz for the fourth seed and home court advantage in the first round of the forthcoming playoffs. The additions of Murray and Porter this season, should they at least somewhat resemble their pre-injury selves, could help Denver become a legitimate contender this year.

Jamal Murray’s Return This Season “50-50” Proposition

March 12th, 2022 at 9:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets fans have been hoping that Jamal Murray will make a strong comeback this season and lift the team to another deep postseason run.

However, it’s not even certain Murray will play in 2021/22, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports. Citing two league sources, Singer writes that it’s a 50-50 proposition Murray will take the court this season and that the decision might ultimately be made by the point guard himself.

Murray tore the ACL in his left knee last April and he’s continued to get treatment, test his knee and see how it reacts. The next steps include playing 3-on-3 and 4-on-4, improving his conditioning and getting his heart rate up.

Murray and Michael Porter Jr., who is recovering from another back surgery, could be assigned as soon as this coming week to Denver’s G League affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich. Porter has been through lengthy rehabs before but this is new territory for Murray and the Nuggets are not sure if he’s mentally ready to play at this juncture, Singer adds.

Northwest Notes: Murray, Porter Jr., House, McLaughlin, Wolves

March 5th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nuggets scrapped their plan to send Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to the team’s G League affiliate in Grand Rapids on Friday, Mike Singer of the Denver Post writes. Murray is rehabbing from a torn ACL, while Porter is recovering from lumbar spine surgery.

The pair was set to travel to Grand Rapids, but logistical concerns and the team only being able to practice once nixed the idea — it’s about a two-and-a-half hour flight from Denver to Grand Rapids. It remains possible that Murray and Porter could practice or scrimmage with the Gold down the road, Singer notes.

Denver currently ranks sixth in the West with a 37-26 record. Porter is eyeing a return sometime this month, as we previously relayed, while the Nuggets still hope Murray can return before the playoffs.

Here are some other notes from the Northwest:

Rockets coach Stephen Silas expressed support for Jazz forward Danuel House, who played for Houston from 2018-21, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake City Tribune tweets. House signed three 10-day contracts with Utah before earning a standard deal. “I’m happy for him and proud of him because he’s a contributor for a winning team,” Silas said. “I love him. It wasn’t anything he did wrong (here). I’m happy he landed on his feet.”
The Timberwolves‘ coaching staff hesitated to get Jordan McLaughlin into the team’s flow earlier this season, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. McLaughlin has since taken on a bigger role for Minnesota, playing double-digit minutes in his last 16 games. “He kind of fell through the cracks in our player development structure a little bit,” head coach Chris Finch admitted. “So that was on us for the beginning of the season.”
Speaking of the Timberwolves, the team’s bench unit has benefited from its off-court chemistry, Hine writes in a separate story for the Star Tribune. Minnesota finished with 74 bench points a 138-101 victory over the Thunder on Saturday, headlined by strong performances from Malik Beasley, Taurean Prince and Naz Reid.

Northwest Notes: Nurkic, Wright, MPJ, Arthur

March 1st, 2022 at 6:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, an unrestricted free agent this summer, will be sitting for at least four weeks with a plantar fasciitis injury. John Hollinger of The Athletic reads the tea leaves and examines Nurkic’s potential future in Portland, as well as explaining why the club will likely operate over the cap during the 2022 offseason.

Nurkic is in the final season of a four-year, $48MM deal with the Trail Blazers and has averaged 17.4 PPG, 12.6 RPG and 3.4 APG since the start of 2022. Though the 27-year-old is no longer the shot blocker he was before suffering a compound fracture of his left leg near the end of the 2018/19 NBA season, Hollinger notes that the rest of his game seems more or less to have returned. The 6’11” big man is averaging 15.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.1 SPG this year.

As Hollinger writes, the Trail Blazers could sign Nurkic to a contract extension that starts at $14.4MM, a 120% annual increase of his current salary. However, Hollinger believes that Nurkic should be able to net significantly more than that in free agency this summer. If they re-sign Nurkic and retain Josh Hart, the Blazers would likely be an over-the-cap team, allowing them to retain their $20MM+ trade exception.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Injured Timberwolves point guard McKinley Wright IV, currently on a two-way deal with the club, will start taking contact in team practices as he continues to recover from a left UCL issue, per Minnesota’s official PR team (via Twitter). The Timberwolves are set to reassess Wright on Sunday. The 23-year-old rookie out of Colorado has appeared in just three games with Minnesota this year.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will soon scrimmage with the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s NBA G League affiliate, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Porter, still working to rehabilitate following a December 1 back surgery, has already resumed one-on-one contact workouts. “You got a 6-foot-10 guy that shoots it like that, and then you start to remind yourself, ‘Man, like, last year, before we had injuries to [guard Jamal Murray], we all felt we had a chance to win it,’” head coach Michael Malone said. “Whenever we get those guys back, this year or next year, we feel the same way. We have a chance to win it when we get fully healthy… As of right now, still in the early steps of trying to re-integrate those guys back slowly, and as they get cleared to do more and more things, then, obviously, we can ramp it up with them.”
The Nuggets have hired former NBA forward Darrell Arthur to serve as a basketball operations associate for the team, Denver announced (Twitter link). Arthur, 33, played for nine NBA seasons, appearing in 503 games. He was with the Nuggets from the 2013/14 season through the 2017/18 season.

Michael Porter Jr. Eyeing March Return

February 27th, 2022 at 5:45pm CST by JD Shaw

Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has progressed in his rehab from lumbar spine surgery and could be cleared for on-court contact within the next week, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Porter is hoping to return to Denver’s lineup at some point in March. Wojnarowski says that once the fourth-year forward is cleared for contact, it’ll just be a matter of him going through a final ramp-up period.

However, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone cautioned fans to take the report with a grain of salt, as Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link) relays.

“I would say don’t listen to those reports. … They didn’t come from me, they didn’t come from [president of basketball operations] Tim Connelly,” Malone said. “They didn’t come from anybody within the Denver Nuggets. I would say, be careful what you listen to and what you read.”

The 23-year-old Porter underwent surgery three months ago and has played just nine games this season. He did appear in 61 games last season, averaging 19.0 points on 54% shooting from the floor and 45% shooting from three-point range.

Denver owns the sixth-best record in the Western Conference (35-25) despite Porter’s absence. The team also hopes to have Jamal Murray return from a torn ACL before the playoffs, Wojnarowski reports.

Porter signed a five-year, $172.5MM contract extension with the Nuggets last offseason. He was drafted No. 14 overall by the franchise in 2018.

Nuggets Notes: Murray, MPJ, Morris, Trade Deadline

February 12th, 2022 at 12:19pm CST by Rory Maher

A source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post that Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are expected to be physically cleared to return to action before the regular season ends. However, a person close to Murray tells Singer that the prolonged rehab process as he recovers from a torn ACL has been more mentally challenging than Murray anticipated.

The Nuggets say Murray will return when he’s ready, both physically and mentally. So even if he’s physically cleared, he might not return this season. Ultimately Murray will decide when that exact date is.

Porter’s situation is different, Singer writes, because he’s already had multiple back surgeries and understands how his body responds to injury, surgery and rehab. Porter has progressed rapidly and has been going extensive shooting drills after practices.

“We couldn’t be happier with where he’s at in terms of his recovery from surgery and his progression towards playing,” Mark Bartelstein, Porter’s agent, told The Denver Post. “He badly wants to play, but we need to check all the boxes before that happens. He’s in as good of a place as we could’ve imagined.”

The Nuggets have actually had to caution Porter not to overexert himself in the recovery process, as they want him healthy long-term after inking him to a rookie scale max extension prior to the season. There’s no official timeline for either player to return.

Here’s more from Denver:

Guard Monte Morris was absent during the team’s loss to Boston Friday night because he’s in the NBA’s concussion protocol, as Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets.
The Nuggets made a minor trade last month and were active ahead of the deadline, but several possibilities fell through. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly said he was slightly disappointed about the inactivity, per Singer of The Denver Post. Appearing on Altitude Radio Friday morning, Connelly also said that it would be “irresponsible” not try and build around reigning MVP Nikola Jokic in the midst of his prime.
In a separate article for The Post, Singer explains that the Nuggets didn’t need to make moves because they recognize that the potential returns of Murray and/or Porter could be more impactful than any deal they had lined up. Coach Michael Malone explained that was the case. “We’re not in a situation where we feel we need to make a move,” Malone said. “… We understand that this year, without Jamal and Michael, it’s different than most.”
Matt Schubert of The Denver Post graded Connelly’s deadline performance, giving him a B-plus. Schubert writes that the absences of two of the team’s top three players has put a ceiling on the team, and another trade on the fringes likely wouldn’t have changed the season outcome significantly — only the return of those missing players might. He also notes that Connelly didn’t trade away any future first-round picks, which is important because he’s proven to be adept at finding hidden gems on draft night.

Nuggets Granted Disabled Player Exception

January 31st, 2022 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have received a disabled player exception as a result of Michael Porter Jr.‘s back surgery, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The exception is worth $2,629,368, half of Porter’s $5,258,735 salary.

A salary cap exception designed to give teams extra flexibility when a player suffers a major injury, the disabled player exception can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade. The exception can only be used on a single player and can only accommodate a player on a one-year deal. A free agent signee can’t get a multiyear contract, and any trade or waiver target must be in the final year of his contract.

Although the disabled player exception gives a team extra cap flexibility, it doesn’t open up an extra spot on the 15-man roster. The club must have a roster spot available to use the DPE to add a player.

The fact that Denver has been granted a disabled player exception related to Porter’s injury is interesting, since multiple reports this month have suggested the forward could make his return this spring.

The Nuggets receiving a DPE doesn’t mean that Porter can’t return this season. However, it does mean an NBA-designated physician determined he’s more likely than not to be sidelined through June 15. That suggests Denver’s medical staff may be more bullish about Porter’s recovery timeline than an independent doctor is.

The Nuggets will have until March 10 to use their new disabled player exception. It would expire at that point if it hasn’t been used. If Porter returns before March 10 (which seems like a long shot), Denver would lose the disabled player exception. If the team uses the DPE to acquire a player and then MPJ returns later in the season, the player acquired using the exception wouldn’t be affected.

Besides the Nuggets, the Cavaliers ($8.9MM) and Pelicans ($1.9MM) have also been granted disabled player exceptions this season for season-ending injuries to Ricky Rubio and Kira Lewis, respectively.

Western Notes: Porter Jr., Bane, Jazz, Rockets

January 20th, 2022 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Despite undergoing back surgery at the beginning of last month, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. reportedly could return this season.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski expanded on that possibility (video link), saying that in conversations with team president Tim Connelly and Porter’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, they “love the way he’s coming along.”

“There’s optimism we’re going to see him again this season,” Wojnarowski said.

That would be a huge boost to the Nuggets’ chances during the postseason. Porter signed a five-year max extension in September.

We have more from the Western Conference:

Desmond Bane says he deserves serious consideration for the Most Improved Player award, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “A lot of times, they don’t want to give it to guys like myself or Jerami Grant,” the Grizzlies guard said on Haynes’ podcast. “But your role changes as you get better. As you improve and as you get better, you get more leeway, you get more opportunities. That’s just how the game goes. They’re not going to give an opportunity to a guy that isn’t ready for it. … So I think that I should definitely be in the conversation.” Bane also believes he could take down the 3-point shooting contest on All-Star weekend if he gets the chance. “If I get invited, I plan to do it and I plan to win it,” he said.
Amid reports that the Jazz are looking for a wing upgrade, head coach Quin Snyder hinted that the team needs to do something about its defensive slippage. Utah was defeated by Houston 116-111 on Wednesday and Snyder lamented the team’s performance on that end of the court, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News writes. “We just had multiple breakdowns over the course of the game, in different capacities, defensively,” he said. “We were helping when we shouldn’t have been helping, not recognizing personnel situations, not focused on the details of what we’re trying to do on the defensive end.”
Speaking of the Rockets, they could be very active before the trade deadline as they continue their rebuild. The Athletic’s John Hollinger and Kelly Iko explore which players are most likely to be moved and their trade value. Hollinger sees a potential avenue for moving Eric Gordon to the Lakers and outlines what they could get in return.