Denver Nuggets: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

5. Porter will be huge for the team next season

All year long, head coach Michael Malone was between starting Torrey Craig and Will Barton at the small forward spot. If Porter is able to live up to the sky-high expectations that have been set for him over the past couple of years, he will have a stranglehold on the 3-spot. Wings can dominate in the NBA due to the prominence of position-less basketball. Denver didn’t have a guy like that this season, which is why Porter is so important.

We’ll finally get a glimpse of Porter during the NBA Summer League, as it was recently announced that he’ll be suiting up for Denver. He is tall and athletic, and he’s able to shoot the 3-ball that has all the importance in the modern NBA. During the playoffs, the Nuggets’ offense went cold for long stretches that resulted in their coming up short against the Blazers. Porter can help remedy that issue if he can stay healthy.

He’s not going to be a gunner that takes 10 3s a game like Stephen Curry, but he can space the floor like a traditional small forward or a stretch-4 in smaller lineups. He sat out his entire first season, which wasn’t that surprising considering how long players normally take to recover from this injury. If he can reach his ceiling, he’ll become a huge piece for the Nuggets.