{"id":270768,"date":"2025-11-08T09:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T09:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270768\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T09:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T09:51:09","slug":"michael-porter-jr-is-finally-living-in-spotlight-with-nets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270768\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Porter Jr. is finally living in spotlight with Nets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 NBA draft will be remembered for one of the deepest and most talented classes of all-time.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic was selected third overall. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander slipped to 11th. Jalen Brunson fell to 33rd. Trae Young was taken fifth. Jaren Jackson Jr. went fourth. Mikal Bridges went 10th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But at one point, one prospect was viewed above them all, widely projected to be selected with the No. 1 pick that year\u2019s draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMichael Porter Jr. puts up a shot past Jalen Duren in the first half of the Nets\u2019 125-107 loss to the Pistons at the Barclays Center on Nov. 7, 2025. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n

Then, Michael Porter Jr. injured his back in his first appearance at Missouri, limiting him to three college games after undergoing spinal disk surgery. <\/p>\n

Porter dropped to 14th \u2014 despite draft night pleas from Knicks fans, who watched the team select bust Kevin Knox with the ninth pick \u2014 then underwent another back surgery that sidelined him for his entire first season in the NBA.<\/p>\n

But more than seven years after Porter fell to the final pick of the lottery, the 6-foot-10 forward is in a starring role for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the growth,\u201d Nets coach Jordi Fernandeez said before Friday\u2019s 125-107 loss to the Pistons<\/a>. \u201cWe need him to keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter, who scored a team-leading 28 points against Detroit, hit the jackpot by landing in Denver, alongside Nikola Jokic, the three-time MVP with all-time vision and selflessness. <\/p>\n

For six seasons, Porter was handed open looks in ideal spots \u2014 hitting over 40 percent of 3s in his career \u2014 and played a key role on the Nuggets\u2019 2023 title team, hitting the boards and using his length. <\/p>\n

He was paid like a star \u2014 earning a $172 million extension in 2021<\/a> \u2014 but could take possessions off, playing off Jokic and Jamal Murray.<\/p>\n

In Brooklyn, Porter \u2014 who was acquired in a deal that included Cam Johnson<\/a> \u2014 lives in the spotlight, a 27-year-old veteran on the league\u2019s youngest team, asked to do more than ever before, thrust into the role he was expected to occupy long ago.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMichael Porter Jr. puts up a shot over two Detroit defenders during the first half of the Nets\u2019 home loss to the Pistons. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n

Entering Friday, Porter was averaging career-high numbers in points (22.4), rebounds (8.4) and assists (3.0). <\/p>\n

His 18.3 field goal attempts per game were nearly five more than his previous high. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But the increased workload and defensive attention has also resulted in Porter producing career-low percentages on field goals (46.9) and 3-pointers (33.9), plus a career-worst mark in turnovers (2.4).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s challenging,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cThe intensity he\u2019s playing with is different.\u00a0Where he was before, it was a different context, not better or worse \u2026 He touches the ball more. His turnovers are up, so he\u2019s gotta clean that up a little bit. I like his 3-point attempts because he draws so much attention and he gets his teammates open. I just want him to get them up and get good shots because they\u2019re gonna go in. He\u2019s one of the best shooters in the world.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow all the basketball buzz in Brooklyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t become a leader and a veteran in one day, and we\u2019re asking a guy in Mike [and Nic Claxton] to be the grown people there. They\u2019re professional, they\u2019re responsible, but they\u2019re forced to grow\u00a0quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going forward, Porter\u2019s importance will only grow, following a hamstring injury that will sideline second-leading scorer Cam Thomas<\/a> for multiple weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to push myself to be able to handle a bigger load than I used to,\u201d Porter said last week. \u201cI\u2019ve always been someone that can adapt to a situation \u2026 As the season goes on, I\u2019ll get even more comfortable figuring out how I can get good looks off against some of these really good defenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a work in progress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2018 NBA draft will be remembered for one of the deepest and most talented classes of all-time.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,5997,5549,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-270768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-michael-porter-jr","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}