Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
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Nikola Jokic being guarded by Alex Caruso.
The Denver Nuggets could’ve won their Series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. While they didn’t win, and the hope is for them to always win a championship, given some of the talent on the roster, the Nuggets competed, and that’s better than some of the other teams who struggled during the postseason.
However, it was a very ugly series for certain players, including Michael Porter Jr., who has been a polarizing player to Nuggets fans. Porter was dealing with a shoulder injury and didn’t give the Nuggets much, only having one game in the series where he made more than two three-point attempts.
What is Porter Jr.’s Trade Value?
When speaking about the situation, Bill Simmons of The Ringer suggested that he has no value around the league and that the Nuggets could find an issue trading him.
“So if he’s available, what are you actually getting for (Porter Jr.)?” Russillo asked Simmons. “Bradley Beal,”Simmons said.
“That was a joke … but yeah … you’re not shopping at Whole Foods or Bristol Farms (if you’re looking to trade Porter). You’re shopping at a pretty grossly kept grocery store when you’re shopping Michael Porter around … you’re picking up the ground beef going, ‘Oh, this might have been here for a while.’ That’s who you’re looking at.”
Simmons wasn’t the only one to criticize the Denver Nuggets’ sharpshooter.
Porter, 26 years old, has been criticized plenty in the past, but it’s been louder recently. However, he also shot 39.5% from 3-point range and averaged 18.2 points and 7.0 rebounds during the regular season.
Outside of a bad playoff and a few rough moments during the regular season, it wasn’t like he was a terrible player. The issue, however, is his $180 million contract, something that teams around the league likely won’t love with the new CBA.
Why would a team trade for that?
With how poorly he played in the postseason, Shannon Sharpe believes he should’ve been sitting out.
“Look at Joke, he only had five shot attempts–I mean nine shot attempts. Yeah, so in order for him, you need him to be somewhere in the 20s. You wouldn’t have been disappointed if he had 25 shot attempts. You wouldn’t have been disappointed if Murray— Now you’d like to have, Murray had 16, but you like to be him a little bit more efficient.”
“But the one thing, the most disappointing thing this series, was Michael Porter Jr. I understand he’s injured, but bro if you can’t give us any more than that, bro you got to sit down. Yeah, he’s giving us nothing, he gave us nothing,”Sharpe said.
Porter Jr. Wasn’t Feeling Like Himself
If there’s anybody who understands what he was going through, it’s Porter himself.
He admitted that after the Denver Nuggets were eliminated, he was frustrated with how he played and felt hopeless. He added that he couldn’t go for rebounds, couldn’t shoot the basketball the way he wanted to, and more.
“I mean, I’m really devastated personally for just not being able to contribute how I wanted to and not being able to play the way I wanted to,”Porter Jr. said after the Nuggets’ playoff run ended with a 125-93 Game 7 loss against the Thunder.
“I felt a little helpless out there, like I’m trying, but I just can’t go rebound how I want to, I can’t box out how I want to.”
An unfortunate situation all around, there’s a scenario that could’ve been his last game in a Nuggets jersey.