The Brooklyn Nets made an interesting move this past offseason when they acquired forward Michael Porter Jr. from the Denver Nuggets via trade to essentially replace forward Cam Johnson. Brooklyn received a distant first-round pick from the Nuggets in the deal and along the way, they get to see if Porter can grow under head coach Jordi Fernandez.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. I already said it’s going to be growing pains and I’m building my body, I’m spending extra time in the weight room,” Porter Jr. said after Wednesday’s 117-112 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Porter had arguably his best game of the season against Atlanta as he tallied 31 points and nine rebounds while picking up some of the slack with guard Cam Thomas struggling.
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“I’m going to push myself to be able to handle a bigger load than I’ve used to,” Porter continued. “I’ve always been someone that can adapt to a situation. It’s game five. As the season goes on, I’ll get even more comfortable figuring out more how I can get good looks off against some of these really good defenders.”
Porter didn’t have much of an issue scoring against the Hawks and their lengthy defenders as he finished the contest shooting 12-of-20 from the field in 33 minutes of playing time. Porter took all of his shots against six Hawks defenders and he shot at least 50.0% from the field against each player, including going 5-for-5 against Atlanta center Kristaps Porzingis.
For the season, Porter is already en route to the best season of his career as he is averaging 21.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 50.6%from the field and 41.0% from three-point land. Porter has been thrust into a role where he has to share the primary scoring duties with Thomas and as of now, it seems like the former Missouri Tiger is ready for the increase in responsibility.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. details early adjustment to featured role