{"id":8985,"date":"2025-07-14T11:48:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/8985\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T11:48:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:48:03","slug":"so-much-is-changing-for-michael-porter-jr-with-nets-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/8985\/","title":{"rendered":"So much is changing for Michael Porter Jr. with Nets trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 For Michael Porter Jr., getting traded from Denver to the Nets is going to be a huge adjustment, culturally and competitively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From third wheel on a contender to top option on a rebuild.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the Midwest to the big city, always his least favorite in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t expect him to stress over any of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a whirlwind,\u201d said Porter, who found out he\u2019d been traded from the only team he\u2019d ever known while flying to Saint-Tropez, France.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He reacted as expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI flipped the script in my head pretty quick. Honestly, I\u2019m not like a super anxious guy. So on the plane when I found out, I was just like, \u2018Well, I\u2019m traded,\u2019 and took a nap afterwards. [But] I\u2019m excited to be here, though. I love Denver, I love my time there, but I\u2019m excited for this new chapter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Porter Jr. is in for a huge adjustment. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

That chapter will be pretty different than the previous ones. Porter, raised in Missouri, is going to be pulled out of his comfort zone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always said New York was my least favorite NBA city,\u201d Porter laughed. \u201cJust because I grew up in the Midwest, where there\u2019s so much space and no traffic. So it\u2019ll be an adjustment. But I think it\u2019ll end up being an amazing place for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The adjustment will be athletic as well. Porter had spent his entire career with the Nuggets, the first four years with Nets coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez as an assistant. After a third back surgery ruined Porter\u2019s 2021-22 campaign, he returned the next season to help Denver win the championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was as a third option, behind Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Now, Porter, who comes with $79 million and two years left on his contract \u2014 along with Denver\u2019s unprotected 2032 pick \u2014 is in a rebuild in which he not only can expand his game but will have to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a good team like that and you\u2019ve got so many guys who are capable on the floor together, there\u2019s gonna be guys that sacrifice,\u201d Porter said. \u201cThat\u2019s the nature of when you\u2019re on a championship team. \u2026 For me, I averaged [19 points] one year. Last year, I was [18.2] as the third option. I just feel like I have more in my tank still. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve reached my peak, and I\u2019m excited to grow my game, expand my game, explore my game, and see what I could do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Porter Jr. will be one of the Nets\u2019 top scoring options. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Porter is the only proven scorer on the roster other than Cam Thomas, and the latter is a restricted free agent. Now, the 6-foot-10 forward has to prove he can score efficiently away from Jokic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past three seasons, he\u2019s averaged 17.4 points on .492\/.404\/.795 splits and .612 true shooting. But in 22 games without Jokic, those figures fell to 15.9 points on .440\/.268\/.707 splits and .525 true shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A catch-and-shoot deadeye, Porter will need to improve his self-creation game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be like exploring the game and working on the things in practice. Part of being a successful NBA player is when you\u2019re working on things during the season, you should work on the shots and things you\u2019re gonna get in the game,\u201d Porter said. \u201cI feel like now my daily preparation and my daily work will be a little bit different, and hopefully, that translates over to the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll probably be some more self-creation, iso situations. Jordi has already talked to me about creative ways to get me in comfortable spots on the floor. So it will be a dialogue. I\u2019m excited to see where it goes. And it\u2019s definitely gonna be an adaptation. I won\u2019t be the same player [on opening night] as I will be Game 20 as I adjust to that heavier load and that heavier role.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 For Michael Porter Jr., getting traded from Denver to the Nets is going to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[671,1753,6409,355,978,99],"class_list":["post-8985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nba","tag-ny-sports-minute","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}