Michael Porter Jr Has Officially Arrived
When the Denver Nuggets were on the clock with the 14th pick of the 2018 Draft, there was one glaring name on the board. This dude had top 3 talent and an insanely high ceiling, the only downside it came with a back that had big time issues and injury concerns up the wazoo. Seeing as how they were already pretty good, the Nuggets said fuck it, took the risk and selected Michael Porter Jr with the last pick of the lottery. They were willing to be patient and keep him out an entire year while he worked his way back and got healthy, and look at what we are dealing with. A team that is 24-10 and in second place in the West now has a player that for the moment has that fanbase higher than any dispensary ever could.
The scary part is MPJ is just scratching the surface. The Pacers are no slouch defensively, they currently possess the 7th best defense in the entire NBA. They are even better at home where that ranking jumps to 4th. You ball out in that building, you've earned it. The size, the athleticism, the driving ability combined with what appears to be a legit outside shot it's pretty scary to think what this could look like rather soon. You put this type of dynamic talent with the likes of Jokic/Murray/Harris and you have yourself a pretty nice young nucleus for years to come. Granted this all comes down to if MPJ can stay healthy which is still a big if, but performances like this give you an idea of what the Nuggets were thinking back on Draft night.
Oh, and this is all coming just two games after he did this against Sacramento
So yeah, I'm thinking there are a few teams out there (cough cough CLE, NYK, PHI, LAC) that probably are kicking themselves at the moment.