Denver Nuggets: Complete 2018 offseason grades
By Max Carlin
Drafting Michael Porter Jr.
A year ago, Michael Porter Jr. being available with the final pick of the lottery portion of the 2018 NBA Draft would have been unthinkable.
Two minutes into Porter’s lone season at Missouri, that became slightly more believable. In his first game for Mizzou, Porter suffered a back injury, which required microdiscectomy surgery and sidelined him for virtually all of his freshman year.
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When Porter returned for the SEC and NCAA tournaments, he was a shell of himself.
Yet Michael Porter Jr. being available at the No. 14 pick in the draft didn’t feel real until it was. I shared my thoughts at the time. They were jumbled and confused and I wasn’t sure what exactly to think. I’m still not.
Porter didn’t participate in Summer League, so we’ve only picked up one data point since I wrote that post: Porter had back surgery … again.
I’m not qualified to speak to the medical implications of Porter’s second back surgery. Reporting on the procedure has been sparse, and the only word out there is positive spin from Porter’s camp.
I simply do not know what to think of Porter — no one with the ability to speak about him honestly and publicly does. Therefore, I’m still uncomfortable grading MPJ’s selection. There’s no honest way to forecast what he will offer the Denver Nuggets.
Grade: Incomplete